A Vast Sea of Stars
by Gyoro and Ururun
Summary: Claude and the gang are facing the Ten Wise Men, but unexpected things happen...And what's more, Fayt and the gang unveil some startling new discoveries. Rating may go up later on in the fic. Part two now underway.
1. Chapter 1: The Day Before DDay

**PART ONE**

**Chapter 1**

**The day before D-Day**

In the military base of L'Aqua, Claude and his 11 comrades were resting, before the next day in which they had to battle the nefarious 10 wise men; the ultimate showdown.

On this day, which was creeping into a slow sunset, Precis went for a walk, looking for Claude. She was hoping to confess her love for him this evening, as it was something, which had been tormenting her since the time they had first met. Though, there was some part of her, which was telling her that it was a bad idea and that maybe he wasn't the one she liked. But she thought this was just her nerves. That was when she came to the beach, where Claude and Rena were snuggling together, kissing and such.

She felt wrenched and she did not know what to do. Her usual hyperactive self dwindled into nothing; her passion, her love dwindled into nothing. She ran, ran as fast as she could until she stopped dead, in realisation of the truth; as she thought things through, she realised she was not as hurt as she thought she would be. No tears, no cursing, no sad faces…nothing. Somewhere in her heart, she found the knowledge that Claude never felt that way about her and in reality, he was not the one she was meant for. She sighed deeply and carried on walking.

She could hear noises crying in the setting night; it scared her and she closed her eyes, keeping her fear inside, all the while whimpering like a coward. She sped up and without watching where she was going, she tripped over a large log. On sitting up and examining the object, she realised it wasn't a log, but a rather twitchy Ashton. Precis saw what appeared to be glass bottles littering the ground around him and he was holding two half-empty bottles himself.

"Ashton? What are you doing here?…And what-?" Precis started, before Ashton, on getting up a little, grabbed her skirt.

"Hehehehehehe, you're small. And you got eyes in your head," Ashton giggled, slurring his words. Precis just looked at him.

"Are you drunk?" She asked.

"Psht, of course not. I'mb fined," Ashton giggled. Precis looked at Gyoro and Ururun.

"And how could you guys let him drink so much?" Precis asked.

Gyoro and Ururun growled in high-pitched voices and swayed slightly. Precis sighed. She dragged him up and took him through the trees and onto a cliff, where they sat staring at the sunset, with the sun going gently down. The floating castle and the icy mountain could be seen in the distance. Precis cheered up a little and turned to Ashton.

"Hey, Ash-," Precis stopped. Ashton had his hands up near his face and his face glistened with tears. Gyoro and Ururun hung their heads in woe, with watery eyes gleaming. Precis put her hand on his shoulder, with her face full of worry. He turned his head away.

"I didn't want you to see me like this. What kind of adult **am **I?! To get drunk and stupid, like this. **I hate it! **I've never had any luck, I'm just a burned out failure," Ashton whined.

"Gyrooo. Don't you mean washed up failure? Burned up is not even a phrase," Gyoro pointed out. Ashton took a swipe at him, telling him to shut up. Needless to say, he missed and fell over. Precis pulled him upright again.

"You aren't the only one, y'know? I mean, I was chasing a self-absorbed moron and he was way out of my league. I knew all along that I was being blind to the fact that it was someone else I had affection for. I'm so dumb," Precis sighed. Ashton carried on looking depressed.

"I tried so hard, but it was all for nothing. I mean, she's so oblivious to me. I am an ant to her. No, a whatsit, a amobia-," Ashton started.

"-amoeba?" Precis suggested.

"-yes, that. I'm not even in existence. I messed up all the time, humiliating myself and I probably embarrassed her. I should have stopped before I got so attached to her," Ashton wailed.

"I was such a brainless dimwad, I didn't even take anyone's feelings into account. So, I just wanted to tell you Ashton-," Precis started.

"No, no. I gotta tells you, Precicious. Hiccup. That I-," Ashton slurred.

"I like you," they both said. They both stopped still and blinked. Then they slowly and weakly laughed. They both looked down at the ground, blushing madly. Ashton suddenly looked up and started frantically looking in all directions. Precis looked at him strangely.

"What's up, Ashton?" She asked. He carried on looking around.

"I feel like someone is spying on us. It's freaking me out," he replied. But he did not get a chance to go check it out, as all the alcohol he had consumed got the best of him and he passed out.

In the distance, Chisato hid behind a tree with a notepad and a pen. She had the pen touching her mouth, in a thoughtful way.

"Hmmm…Juicy. It should make for an interesting story. **Lovers mingle in the sunset. **I like that," Chisato giggled, walking off.

Claude and Rena stared off into the distance, but suddenly Claude turned sharply around, anxiously. He saw nothing, but the distant wall. He turned back and Rena stared at him funny.

"What's the matter, Claude-sama?" Rena asked.

"I feel like I'm being glared at," Claude replied. "And please don't call me that. It creeps me out." Rena giggled and nodded.

"You're just imagining things," Rena said. But Claude being Claude, he would not let it go. He got up suddenly and stared for a while. He ran forward for a while and stopped.

"_KUU HA ZAN!_" He shouted. A tall figure jumped out, dodging the attack. It was Dias.

"What do you think you're doing, watching us like that?" Claude shouted. Dias just stared him down, looking slightly amused.

"Heh. Just making sure my little sister is not being hurt. If you hurt her, however, you will suffer a thousand deaths," Dias whispered. He turned around and walked off. Claude just stood there, fuming and clenching his fists.

"Jerk. Like I would hurt Rena. Who does he think he is, anyway?" Claude muttered.

Dias walked back up to the main building. Before getting there, he stopped. Moments later, a little red head bumped into him.

"Ooooh? Heh heh. It's you! So, you spying on people as well, huuuuuh?" Chisato nosed. Dias stayed silent, in a way that told her she was right.

"Weeeeell? What's going on? You seem wary, yet content," Chisato asked. "Ah. I see. It's Claude and Rena, isn't it? But I bet you're relieved Claude seems right for your little Rena, aren't you, huuuh?" Dias stayed silent for a moment.

"Hmph. You seem to know your stuff. Being nosy doesn't befit a person of your stature," Dias said. Chisato giggled and smiled in a knowing way.

"I'm a reporter. I have to be nosy, to get the story. And I have to know what I'm talking about. Reading people's emotions, finding people's innermost secrets….it's what I do," Chisato said. She winked at him and walked back to the main building. Dias blushed slightly and let out a noise of contempt. He then set off for the building himself.

Leon sat on a cliff, gazing forlornly off into the distance. A bird fell out of the sky, with a thorn in its wing. Leon gently took the bird into his hands and took the thorn out, rubbing the wound afterwards. The bird chirped happily and more birds appeared, landing on his head, ears, shoulders and arms. This made Leon smile, bringing out the lost child in him.

Noel sat among the flowers and the animals in the forest. He looked quite content and seemed to be talking to the natural life around him.

Opera walked through the corridors, shouting the name Ernest. Through much searching, Ernest was found in a small room, with a gentile fire burning in the fireplace. He was reading a book, called "The History of Nede". He looked up and smiled upon Opera's entry. She sat down next to him and snuggled up to him.

"Soon this will all be over and we can go back to being normal," Opera said. Ernest turned a page and carried on reading.

"Not quite. Remember Rena and her friends are Expelians. Well, Rena was brought up there anyway. But what I am saying is that they have no home to go back to and therefore no normal life to go back to. Expel, along with the million other unfortunate souls, died when it collided with Nede," Ernest said, grimly. Opera sighed in a depressed way.

"I guess they will either have to stay here or come with us. Not that that'll be any burden. Maybe discovering new worlds will do them good. I'm guessing that Rena would go with Claude. So it wouldn't matter as much, but…," Opera said.

"I know. Forgetting all those they love would still not be made up by being with friends and lovers. Fate has indeed dealt a cruel hand," Ernest said, gloomily.

"Hmmm…If I get my hands on this fate, then I will give 'em one heck of a slap," Opera said.

In the next room, Celine and Bowman were having a couple of drinks at the bar. They could hear Opera and Ernest talking in the next room.

"…what I am saying is that they have no home to go back to and therefore no normal life to go back to. Expel, along with the million other unfortunate souls, died when it collided with Nede," Ernest said. Celine and Bowman spat their drinks out and sat there in shock.

"Died? Expel's….gone?" Celine said, in a slightly higher voice than normal. Bowman's hand was shaking and he broke the glass. He put his hands up to his wet face.

"Nineh…she's…?" Bowman cried.

"Mother…Father…Cecil…are gone?! How could they keep this from us? And how did they know?" Celine asked. They got up and stormed into the next room, where Opera and Ernest sat snuggling together.

"Expel's gone?! When were you going to tell us?" Celine shouted. Ernest and Opera looked at each other alarmed and guiltily.

"We didn't want to hurt you. Especially since we're battling soon. We're sorry we talked so openly," Ernest said. Celine and Bowman stayed silent and then stormed out.

They ran past Dias and stopped still. He was trying to return to his room. Celine and Bowman hurriedly explained what had happened to Expel. He seemed unperturbed.

"…Thought so," Dias replied, which was greeted by shock.

"What? How? And why aren't you upset?" Celine asked.

"…I have no one of particular importance there. And how? Claude looked like he was going to say something contrary to what you were saying about Expel being fine," Dias replied. "Now, if you don't mind…" He walked off, leaving Celine and Bowman gaping in shock.

Next they ran to where Rena and Claude were sat. Celine ran over and slapped Claude in the face.

"Claude! Is it true? Did you really know Expel is gone?" Celine shouted. Claude rubbed his face and looked guilty. Rena stood up in alarm.

"What? But, mother…Regis…Alen," Rena cried. Claude stood up.

"I would have told you guys, but how could I say that your home is gone? It would have been demoralising," Claude said. Rena ran off crying.

"Home? What do you mean? You sound like Expel isn't your home," Celine said. Claude looked strange.

"It isn't? You're not from Expel?" Bowman asked. Claude nodded his head in agreement. He left Celine and Bowman speechless and ran after Rena, who was running alone, back to the main building.

Celine and Bowman carried on through the forest, determined to let everyone know the truth. They reached Precis, who was sat there cradling an unconscious Ashton. They told her about Expel and she didn't even waver in her expression.

"So…everyone's gone?" She asked. Celine and Bowman nodded.

"Heh. The old man would have found a way out of there anyway, so why worry?" Precis said. Celine and Bowman looked at each other with exasperated expressions. They left her to her own devices and they searched for Leon. But Claude was there first.

"Don't you dare tell him. Or he'll never fight again and he will lose his reason. I don't want him dying here," Claude said, with arms out wide, in front of Leon. Celine and Bowman looked like they wanted to argue, but they gave in. Leon walked up to them.

"Good evening. Let me guess…you have found out Expel has ceased to exist?" Leon said. Claude, Celine and Bowman looked shocked.

"How'd-?" Claude stared.

"Easy. The wise men jerks had a large heraldic stone, much like that of the energy stone used for the Lacour Hope. From seeing big sister's pendent flash both then and at the wise men's stone, I deduced that they were of the same matter and it would have quite the destructive power. The tower was shaking and I figured, this stone was destroying Expel, without any hope of us saving it. We being in the vicinity of those jerks, we were transported to this planet with them," Leon explained. Claude, Celine and Bowman were shocked.

…And the night was spent in a forlorn shock.


	2. Chapter 2: Day of Reckoning

**Author's note: **Hey there! I seem to forget to say hi on the first chapters. xD This fic is a mixture of SO2 and 3. Fayt and the gang come in later in the fic, but I didn't want to say much lest I spoil anything. Warning, if you haven't played or completed SO3, then there will be spoilers of events that happen. As for SO2, there's no real spoilers, really. It's like a rewrite of the final battles and endIt's rated M because of some of the content later on. xD

**Chapter 2**

**Day of reckoning**

Everyone woke up and gathered at the meeting point. Ashton swayed a little and Precis kept him upright.

"Ahhh, why does my head hurt?" he whined. Precis was holding onto his arm and he blushed, wondering to himself why this was happening…though, he could not complain. They were all led onto the Herush and they sat in silence. Rena burst out crying again and would not even respond to Claude, batting his hands away, when he tried to comfort her. She was quite upset with him. Leon walked forward.

"It will be okay, big sister. Once we finish these guys off, we can adjust some things in the space-time continuum and bring Expel back into existence," Leon said. Rena rubbed her eyes and smiled weakly at him.

"Thanks, Leon. That makes me feel better," Rena said. Leon blushed slightly and walked off. Dias walked up to Claude.

"I thought I told you not to hurt Rena," Dias said, glaring at him. Claude shook his head.

"I was trying to protect Rena by not telling her. And they had to go tell her," Claude said, pointing at Celine and Bowman, who now stood shuffling around nervously. Dias made a noise of contempt and walked off, glaring at the two perpetrators.

Ashton was swaying dreadfully and fell over. And stayed there.

"Ashton? Are you _drunk_?" Claude asked.

"He got drunk yesterday. But he must be hung over," Precis said. Claude did not look amused and the others sighed. Ashton sank to the ground and put his hands to his face.

"Ooooh, I'm so sorry you guys. I knew it would be like this, being the unluckiest guy in the world," Ashton whimpered. Precis sat down next to him and hugged him tightly, telling him it was alright. Ashton blinked with surprise.

"W-when have you been getting this close to me?!" Ashton asked. Precis giggled.

"Don't you remember? We had a private moment with each other last night, when you were drunk," Precis laughed. They all laughed along with her and Ashton blushed, laughing nervously along with them and then sighed.

"Ahhh, I can't even remember what was supposed to be the best night of my life. Why me?" Ashton said in a high pitching crying voice.

**A/N:** Sorry, this is a short chapter, the next one is longer.

And, please, if you have been reading these first two chapters, let me know how it's going! I am open to constructive criticism and whatnot.


	3. Chapter 3: The First Battle

**Author's note: **Hey again. If you read this, please review! Constructive criticism is fine, if it's nice and all.  Thank you to those two who have reviewed. And to those who have favourited it

**Chapter 3**

**The First Battle**

**The Tower: upstairs**

"Looks like the brat and his playmates are on their way. Is the secret weapon ready?" Cyril asked. He stared down the second man, with a malicious smile playing at his lips. He was talking to two of his comrades.

"Yes…She is waiting in the entrance with Ruprecht, Jibril and Nicolus," replied Vesper.

"Heh. The brat won't know what hit him. What a find she was," Cyril laughed. They all laughed evilly.

**The Tower: downstairs**

"Are you ready…Ariette?" Ruprecht asked.

"Yes," a female voice replied.

**The Tower: outside**

Claude and the gang got to the tower and entered cautiously. They were greeted by darkness, so thick nothing could be seen at all. Suddenly, a few lights were flashed on and they highlighted the three men standing ready for them. A light shone between the party and the enemies.

"Welcome, weaklings. How do you fare today?" Ruprecht laughed. Claude got his sword out ready.

"Haha, you think you can beat us? Think again," Jibril laughed. Claude growled and made a lunge for him. The enemies did not try to defend themselves. Instead, they stepped aside, allowing a fourth figure to emerge from the darkness and step forward.

The figure was a young girl, no older than Claude and she wore her long waist length hair down, curling beautifully around her arms and down her back. Her hair was flaming red and she had a long fringe, which flew past her ears. Her eyes were of the same colour of Claude's and they glowed a slight red. She was pale and she looked dejected. Her clothes were that of a black gothic gown. Claude stopped his lunge mid slash and stared at her. She stared at him blankly.

"Ari? Ari, is that you?" Claude asked. The girl just stood there.

"Haha, so you have recognised her that easily? I guess what they say is true, twins can spot each no matter what," Ruprecht laughed. The rest of Claude's friends gasped.

"Claude, you have a twin?" Ashton asked, now back to his usual self.

"Look at her, darling, she has the same face as Claude. Only she's prettier," Celine laughed.

"What have you done to her?" Claude shouted. The enemies laughed.

"Done? We've done nothing. This is what she herself is feeling. You hurt her, man. Real bad," Nicolus said. Claude looked confused.

"Ari! What the hell is going on? What happened to you…to your hair?" Claude asked. A tear dropped from the girl's eyes.

"You never saved me. I was screaming; hurting; crying. And you never came for me," she cried.

"Ariette! I was in trouble myself. It was hard enough for me to get anywhere. What…what happened to you?" Claude asked. Ariette stayed silent.

"Enough of this. Ariette, kill them. They have come to kill us," Nicolus ordered. Ariette stepped forward and two-half metre diameter circles, with spikes along the outer edge and handholds in the middle of the circles, appeared in Ariette's hands.

She stood sideways and held one circlet above her head and one near her waist, in a battle stance. Claude stared at her in shock.

"Ari! I don't want to fight you! Stop this, they're the bad guys," Claude said, as he raised his sword to block her attack. It turned into a one-on-one battle, with Claude trying to defend himself and everyone else. All that could be heard was the clash of metal and sparks went flying everywhere. Rena and everyone stared in shock and fear. The battle was a fierce one and neither would give in.

"Why are you doing this? What happened?" Claude asked. More slamming.

"You nor father came for me!" Ariette replied, taking a swipe at her brother. Claude dodged; side stepped and pushed her onto the floor. He pinned her to the ground and panted.

"Father and I set out to rescue you immediately after your kidnap. Things happened and I ended up here," Claude said.

"Liar! You and father went off and explored a planet called Milocinia and never came after me," Ariette shouted, struggling to free herself from her brother's grasp.

"No! We had to examine that planet. There were dangerous and unknown levels of energy being omitted from that place. Father said we have no choice and I believed him. I'm sorry I didn't try harder. Please forgive me," Claude said. Ariette pushed harder and got him off her. They stood staring at each other. Tears rolled down her face and she rubbed them with her hands.

"You have no idea how scared I was. T-they nearly….did really horrible stuff to me. And they experimented on me. I felt as if I wanted to end my life. Luckily I was saved by Cyril and brought here. They took care of me. I don't understand why you're fighting them," Ariette cried. "I wanna go home and talk to mother and father again." She had her hands to her face and bent over a little.

"Father's dead," Claude said. Ariette looked up in shock and started crying harder.

"And the one's who you're working for are his killers. They wish to destroy the universe. They already destroyed the planet that most of my friends come from," Claude said. Ariette gasped and stepped away from the wise men, who were starting to advance.

"Well, well. Looks like we will have to go onto plan B," Ruprecht said. They laughed, as they each lifted an arm and pointed them at Ariette. Ariette stumbled and went blank. After a few seconds, she lifted her eyes and the red glow was back in her eyes. She wore an evil grin, lifted her circlets and ran straight for Claude, ready to attack. Claude raised his sword and blocked her blow. She released one of them and quickly made a slash for Claude's lower body. A loud scream was heard and blood spattered the ground, as Claude fell back into his pool of blood. Everyone gasped and Rena ran forward in tears and sunk to his side, frantically starting to heal him. Dias came in and blocked Ariette's attack, which was aimed for Rena. Ashton, Opera, Ernest and Precis went for Ruprecht and Jibril, two on one. Noel helped with healing and red mage attacks from the sidelines and Celine was watching out for the perfect moment to strike. Bowman and Chisato attacked the third one Nicolus. Dias kept Ariette from fighting, by blocking her attacks and leading her into a corner. Leon, however, was hiding behind a pillar, frozen in fear.

Celine watched Ariette's movements and had a sudden idea.

"We need to get Ariette out of her possession! Leon, come here and help me chant this ancient rune. Hurry!" Celine shouted. Everyone agreed and Leon walked a little forward.

"But-but, I've never done that sort of magic before, it is impossible! I am a scientist who specialises in contracting daemons and bringing forth unfortunate weather. I can't handle this!" Leon shouted. Everyone gasped and turned to Leon, silence plaguing the room.

"How the HELL are you saying that now, you little brat?! After all that crap you fed us? 'Oh, I'm the best and I don't need anyone's help. I can handle this myself'. You little brat! Get your butt over here!" Precis shouted. Leon still looked frightened.

"Do you want to end up dead? Claude risked his life for us. Now come help and no one else will have to take the fall," Celine said. Leon wiped his eyes.

"Big brother…." Leon cried. He ran over to where Celine stood, holding a scroll with ancient symbols.

"We will start chanting this and everyone must keep us safe," Celine said. Everyone nodded and strengthened their attacks and defence. Adrenaline was pumping through everyone's bodies and they kept the enemies away from the two heraldic users.

"_Light from the heavens and Darkness from the Underworld, _

_Come forth and grant us thine glorious power._

_With the power of the stars and the power of the void unfurled,_

_Unleash this divine shower._

_Upon thee who hath doth been affected,_

_With dark powers taking thy conscious._

_Now come forth and be corrected,_

_From such beings who doth be monstrous._

_Take this spell into thy hand,_

_Take this blood into thy throat._

_Come doth back and reprimand,_

_To thine brother upon you doth dote._

_So come back here and make it right._

"_UNLEASH! HEAVENLY DARK BLESSING!_"Leon and Celine shouted. A black and white nebula appeared above the fighting area. The stardust came down and circled Ariette, wrapping around her, while she struggled and pleaded to be released from the binding. Light blinded everyone and after a while, everyone's vision came back. Ariette lay unconscious on the ground. Dias quickly ran to her, dragged her up and ran back to where Rena was sobbing over Claude's body. He guarded the three of them, while the battle went back to normal. Leon and Celine clasped hands and chanted their spells together, unleashing massive surges of power. Leon and Celine's joint _Southern Cross_ vaporised the three enemies and they all relaxed slightly.

"What do we do now?" Bowman asked. Everyone looked at where Dias was standing. He sheathed his sword and knelt down next to Rena.

"How's Claude? He's not-," Bowman said, unable to carry on the sentence.

"…He's lost a lot of blood. But thanks to Rena, he may survive. It might depend on his conscious," Dias said. "But we can't take them with us. Rena, you go with the rest and leave these two with me. We'll catch up later." Rena stood up and looked at Dias.

"But I want to stay with Claude," Rena cried.

"They need your powers more. You are the best healer around here. Do you want them to die?" Dias asked. Rena had wide eyes. She stared at the ground and nodded. Dias put his hand on her head and rubbed her hair, telling her she was a good girl.


	4. Chapter 4: Onto the Second Battle

**Author's note: **I don't know whether anyone is actually reading this. I do apologise for the late update. Please read and review! I do think this is the best fic I've written so far…It does have a fair few chapters in it, but please do not let that put you off!

**Chapter 4**

**Onto the second battle**

Rena, along with everyone else, started for the entry to the next room and walked through the many passages. Each way led to a dead end, making them get lost many times. But through perseverance and thorough motivation, they got through the place and entered another dark room. Like in the last room, lights came on to reveal the two enemies standing at the back of the room.

"Hehehe, sooo. You have made it this far. The others must have let their guard down, to be defeated by such punks. Oh? Where are the brat and the other one? Not lost them already, have we? Gyahahahahahahahaha," Decus cackled. Bowman stepped forward.

"Hardly. They will catch up with us very soon, just you wait," Bowman said. Vesper and Decus cackled, making the party angry.

"You can laugh all you want. We'll beat you," Noel said. The battle commenced and Decus unleashed his fiery spinnicle attack.

"_NOAH!_" Leon shouted. The huge tsunami quenched the flames from Decus' attack, which left him wet and angry. He ran towards Leon.

Chisato stopped him in his path and unleashed her mad martial arts techniques on him. Bowman came up behind and unleashed all sorts of poisonous attacks on him. Precis was busy attacking Decus from underneath and Ashton was using his heraldic sword techniques.

"We need another big attack!" Opera shouted, zapping Vesper with her gun.

"I need to regenerate my powers, it might take a while, darlings," Celine said. Leon stepped out of the limelight. Noel and Rena nodded and stepped back. Opera continued to blast the enemy and Ernest tied Vesper up with his whip. Some time later, three shouts could be heard.

"_NOAH!_"

"_MAGNUM TORNADO!_"

"_STAR FLARE!_"

Leon, Noel and Rena had cast three spells together and the ground rumbled, as a huge tsunami came from behind the enemies. At the same time a huge tornado swirled the water around, making the attack more dangerous. And on top of all that explosive stardust added to the fusion. A roar, a swish and a crackling enveloped the enemies. The enemies were slammed against the wall. Vesper was defeated, but Decus managed to stay alive, but barely. He stood up.

"Hehe, you think that will defeat me? Well, I guess I have no other alternative," Decus said. He rose into the air and encased himself with flames. Red flames, blue flames, green flames and black flames.

"_SUPER FLAMES OF DEATH!_" Decus shouted. He came whirling around, descending rapidly. Everyone tried to get out of the way. He slammed down and a huge explosion went off. When the smoke and flames subsided, they saw Decus dead in the middle of the floor, with a grin on his lifeless mouth. They thought this was strange and it wasn't until Leon cried out that they realised what he did.

"AHHHHHHH! Chisato, Noel! They're-they're-AHHHHHHHHH!" Leon screamed and fell to the ground crying. Rena ran over to the unconscious Chisato and did some rapid healing. Afterwards, she rapidly healed Noel.

Bowman stepped forward.

"You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up with you later," Bowman said. Leon stepped forward.

"But-," he started, but Precis dragged him along with her, as they exited the room and saluted Bowman.


	5. Chapter 5: Onwards to the Third Battle

**Author's note: **Hey there! Thanks for your reviews, it was great to hear what you think! Oh, when I wrote this, I did not know the name for the weapons Ariette used. They're shakrams, apparently. I probably will forget to edit the other chapters with them in, my apologies. Please read and review! Constructive criticism allowed, just be nice!

**Chapter 5**

**Onwards to the third battle**

They walked the ever winding corridors and found themselves getting tested by various puzzles and traps laid out for them. Luckily they managed to get past these. They walked into dark blue room, that seemed as if it were full of mist and a starless sky. Everyone gasped in awe, as the sight of the room seemed to amaze them. They came to the middle of the room.

"So…you like this room?" A voice asked. They spun around and a white haired guy stood at the door they arrived in.

"You! You're one of them!" Celine shouted. The guy smiled.

"Yeah. Yeah I am. Cyril's the name. It's a pleasure," Cyril smiled. Leon got angry and stepped forward.

"Stop messing with us! You're going to pay for what you did to mama and papa," Leon shouted. Everyone looked at him in shock. Cyril laughed lightly.

"Oh? Am I? So I should be scared, then, of a little squirt like you? I would turn around now, while you have the chance. I'm not going to ask you twice. If you want to live, leave," Cyril said. This wound Leon up even more and he opened his book and started chanting a spell.

"_GREMLIN LAIR!_" Leon shouted. Two gremlins materialised out of Leon's book and ran crouched down and lizard-like towards Cyril, who watched with interest at the creatures who were coming at him. At the last minute, he waved his arm and the gremlins circled around him and back towards Leon, without stopping. Leon screamed and started to chant a counter curse. The gremlins got in range and threw sickles at him, sending him flying onto the floor. Leon lay there, staring ahead of him blankly.

Leon saw that he was floating in the air above a sea, which was swishing and swirling around. Something caught his eye, and he looked left. What he saw brought pain. He saw his parents fighting for breath, trying to get their heads above the water. Monsters closed in on them, dragging them below the water. Leon screamed and at the same time, he was dragged under the water also. He fought for breath and saw his parents being mauled by the monsters. Leon reached out for them, before everything went dark and he stopped moving…

…Celine and everyone saw Leon rolling around on the floor screaming, while spouting water out of his mouth and clutching his throat. Rena ran towards him as he stiffened and fell still. She quickly cast a healing spell, before being blasted backwards. She started screaming, as she saw images of her mother Westa being ripped apart by monsters. Ashton ran towards Rena, in hope of helping her.

"Ashton, NO! Or you'll be affected too," Celine shouted. Ashton stopped.

"But…but, I have nothing to be sad over! That jerk can't show _me _any painful images! I've been an orphan since birth," Ashton said. Cyril started laughing to himself. Ashton suddenly put his hands to his head and fell to the floor screaming.

"Heh. You think only the death of relatives and parents can hurt a person?" Cyril laughed. The ground below him rumbled and Bobot came from beneath him.

"Die, stupid face!" Precis shouted. Cyril had dodged the attack with barely a sweat drawn. He stared her down and she clapped her hands to her ears.

"La la la. You're not gonna get me!" Precis said. Cyril just smiled. Then she started screaming. Cyril turned on Celine. Celine's head started hurting and she saw visions of her family dying.

"It's not real, it's not real, IT'S NOT REAL!!!!" Celine shouted and on snapping out of it, she started chanting a spell. Opera and Ernest took to the floor and started manually attacking him. Ernest had successfully trapped him with his whip and Opera sank blasts into Cyril. Wind surrounded Celine and she raised her arms to the sky.

"_RAY!_" Celine shouted. The light blinded everyone, but Cyril came out unaffected. Both Leon and Celine tried all sorts of spells on him, but his resistance was very high.

"What's going on? Nothing's working. This can't be, how are we supposed to defeat him?" Leon said. Everyone was trying their hardest, but nothing seemed to work.

"Hmmmm…I have no choice. I will have to use that rare potion. It might actually work," Celine said. Everyone tried to object, but it was done. She gulped the bright red liquid down and shivered. Celine shivered and started collecting energy from the surrounding area. Everyone went back to attacking Cyril, as he still laughed at their ineptness.

"No potion will help you, you had better just give up now," Cyril said. They kept attacking, and he just stood there, deflecting their attacks like they were nothing. He was not, however, making much effort in hurting them. Celine was surrounded by darkness, shadows flying all around her. Her eyes were closed and she held her hands out in front of her. The ring around her hat swirled round and round, her staff swirled in circles too fast to barely see and it circled her. Some five minutes later, she opened her eyes.

"_METEOR SWARM!_" Celine shouted. Meteors encased in darkness came crashing down all around Cyril and everything went black. When everything cleared, they saw Cyril barely standing, bent over a bit. He started to laugh.

"Heh. You actually hit me. But it was not good enough, girly," Cyril smiled. Celine was angry, shocked and panting with strain. She growled and launched straight at him with her staff in hand. At the last moment, he grabbed her wrist, stopping her dead. She gasped, looking into his electric blue eyes, which shone with amusement.

"You are interesting, are you not?" He smiled. He drew his leg back and side kicked her. She slammed into the wall and slid down. She managed to stay conscious, to watch what was going on. Opera and Ernest had taken his distraction to their advantage.

"_SONIC WHIP!_"

"_HYPER LAUNCHER!_" Ernest and Opera shouted at the same time. Both attacks homed in on Cyril and this weakened him even more. Leon and Rena were chanting as well. Ashton unleashed various Heraldic moves and Precis got him with her _Mujin Super Beam._

"_SHADOW FLARE!_"

"_STAR FLARE!_" Leon and Rena shouted. Red, yellow, black and purple fused together and created twinkling explosions. Cyril was weakening immensely.

Ernest took out his gun, which wasn't as big as Opera's and, along with Opera, aimed it at.

"_DOUBLE LASER ULTIMATE ATTACK!_" They shouted. A huge mix of white and blue light came out of the weapons, sending Opera and Ernest flying rapidly into the back wall, knocking them out. The attack hit Cyril and he was enraptured in the light, until they could no longer see him. When the light subsided, they saw Cyril was nowhere to be seen.

"Whoa. He was vaporised," Leon said. Everyone stood there for a bit, not knowing what to do at first. Rena ran to where Ernest and Opera had landed. She healed them, but for now they were still unconscious. Celine got up and limped over to them.

"Just one more jerk to go and we're finished, eh, darlings?" Celine said. Rena came up to her and healed her wounds. Rena gasped.

"Your magic! I-I can't feel it anymore," she said. Celine just laughed and smiled.

"Weeeell, I had to make myself useful, right? I mean, otherwise we'd have been in a lot of trouble. I would rather lose my Heraldy than lose my friends. Sacrifices must be made, darling," Celine said. Celine walked over to the wall where Ernest and Opera lay and slid down to sit between them.

"Well, now, darlings. Haven't you got to go fight the bossman? I can't very well help you anymore, so I'll stay here and keep watch," Celine said. They thanked her, though Ashton tried to object.

"B-b-but she won't be able to protect herself," he was saying, as they led him out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6: Reawakening

**Author's note: **Hey there! Late update, I know. Further on in the journey of Claude and the gang. This chapter focuses mainly on Celine, for all you Celine fans. There are a couple of other characters in there, but I'll explain at the end. Enjoy.

**Chapter 6**

**Re-awakening**

Celine sighed and brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them, resting her head on her knees.

"_It's only a matter of time before a monster finds me and…well. I shall not think about it too much. It was what I chose to do and what I needed to do. They will be fine. Besides, I would only get in their way, not having any more magic left in me. They're better off without me. I wonder how Claude and everyone else are doing? I hope nothing comes this way; otherwise I won't be able to defend these two. They so wanted to be together. They're better off alive than I, as I have no one particularly special to me,_" Celine thought to herself. She started to fall asleep. Some time passed.

"Hey now, what do we have here? Looks like we have a purdy lady in here. She's pretty enough to steal," a male voice said. Celine instantly woke up and looked up to find Aniki kneeling down in front of her, staring at her and holding her chin. She whacked him and he fell backwards into Ryo and Juro. He got up and straightened up.

"Awwww, is that any way to treat a guy?" Aniki asked.

"What are you three doing here?" Celine asked, getting up.

"Hehehe, we came to see you! We followed you discreetly. But we got caught up somewhere else, so that's why we're late. Sorry bout that," Aniki said. Celine looked weary at him. He looked at the other two and nodded. They went back the way they came in and Celine was left with just the redhead. Celine suddenly blanched and fell to the floor. But not before Aniki could catch her. He kept hold of her.

"Wow, you have been through a lot. These jerks that difficult?" Aniki asked.

"Go away. Why do you guys always come and make everything worse? Of course they're bad," Celine replied. Aniki stared at her in surprise.

"Difficult? To you? How? You pack one hell of a buzz," he said. Celine glared at him.

"Let go of me and get away from me," Celine said.

"No way. I've been waiting for this since before we left Expel," Aniki said.

"What are you-," Celine started, before Aniki lent down and captured her mouth. She got angry and pushed him off of her. She stood up and raised her staff.

"_THUNDER BOLT!_" Celine shouting, hoping she still had a trickle of magic left in her. Aniki cowered and wrapped his arms around his head, until he realised nothing was happening.

"Dammit! Why now?" Celine said, as she started crying, hiding her real reason for being angry and upset.

Aniki walked to her and knelt down, grabbing hold of her shoulders.

"Hey, it's ok. You can shock me when you get your magic back. So don't cry," he said, trying to comfort his favourite attacker. Celine wailed.

"My magic is gone! I used it to help my friends get further. I won't be casting any more spells," Celine cried. Aniki rubbed her back.

"I know, love. I was just trying to cheer you up. Buut, I know how to help you," he said. Celine looked up at him and saw that he was being sincere. Celine lowered her head.

"But, I've done nothing but use it on you. Why-?" Celine asked, before Aniki kissed her again.

"Just shut up and kiss me. You know you wanna," he said in between kissing. Celine went with it and felt like some strange force was flowing through her body. A glow could be seen around them and it was shining brighter and brighter. Aniki, once he felt he was drained enough, slowly stopped the kiss and stared sleepy eyed at Celine.

Celine felt weird. Like something inside her was on fire. It felt good.

"Ahhh, can you zap me now? I feel like I'm gonna fall asleep," Aniki said, falling back onto the floor. Celine realised what had happened and stared at him in alarm.

"Wait a minute, how did you-?" Celine started.

"Uhn? Oh. I stopped at a large Heraldic library, can you believe? And I found a book: Heraldy for beginners. It even said non-magic people could learn. But I wasn't able to learn any…but I was told by this clever guy, that I could do something else. So I did a load of ceremonies and enchantments, and became a medium for magic. So now, if others need magic, I can transmit them some of the magic I have and I can regenerate at a faster rate than you proper wizards. Of course, I used that excuse to kiss you. Zap me if you like. I was being naughty," Aniki explained, laughing a little.

Celine's eyes were filled with tears and she flung her arms around him. He was surprised, but held onto her. Tears fell freely down her face and she cried into his shoulder.

"Thank you so much. I will never forget this," Celine said. "Now I can go help the others." Aniki laughed and told her that it was the least he could do to make it up to them and to be of any use. He got up eventually and poked Opera and Ernest. They soon awoke and got up, looking very surprised to see the thief.

"Hey there guys!" Aniki said. Celine explained what had happened and they nodded. They proceeded to go help the others.

**Author's note: **Aniki is the thief in the anime, who is constantly turning up and getting zapped/burned by Celine. The Team Rocket of Star Ocean, if you like. He is apparently called Jinn in the English dub, but obviously, I have only seen the Japanese one AND Aniki is his real name. Juro and Ryo are the two friends of his. I made those names up because there was no indication to them having a name in the anime. And going by 'Aniki's friends' all the time would have been tedious. So there you go. I made up the weird ritual Aniki goes through, just so that he can help Celine and all. Fun, huh?


	7. Chapter 7: Delirium

**Author's note: **Sorry for the late update, I have been a little forgetful Please enjoy, I know it's a little short.

**Chapter 7**

**Delirium**

Darkness and silence was all that could be seen and heard. Was he even anywhere? Claude got up and saw nothing but darkness. 

"_Where am I? Am I dead? Alive? What's going on here?…All I remember last is getting stabbed by Ari…I feel bad for her. She deserves a better brother than me. Everything was fine before she disappeared…we had a lot of laughs, a lot of crying, a lot of anger...but where is that now? What is the point in anything anymore? I hope everyone is doing alright…somehow they'll manage. I know they will. But where am I really?_" Claude thought to himself. He walked for a little while, realising he wasn't directly in the tower anymore. He saw a light in the distance. He ran towards it. He heard it beckoning him, calling him, wanting him. 

When he got nearer, he saw his father standing there, in the middle of the light. 

"Dad?!" Claude shouted. His father smiled and nodded. Claude got a little nearer. From a distant place, he could hear strange music starting to play. He looked at his father. His father smiled at him.

_Channeru sugu ni kaechau mitai ni ne_

"Is…this real? Am I really seeing you? Is this a dream?" Claude asked.

_Me no mai no riaru kara nigeteta_

His father shook his head.

_Jiyuu no imi mo kitto mada shirazu ni_

"So…am I dead? Am I alive? What's going on here?" Claude asked, really confused.

_Mienai ruuru ga shibaru yo_

"Look, son. You have taken quite a blow, but thanks to your friend, you are alright. It is only your consciousness that has been affected," his father said.

_Tashikametakute watashi dake ni dekiru ashita o_

"I see. So I need to find my way out of here? By getting out of the darkness and into the light? Oh! I thought I heard one of my friends say something about will to live…is that it? I need to have a strong will to live? So…I must go there, into the light!" Claude shouted. 

_Tachi tomarenai kara kakureta taiyou yobi okoshite_

"Claude! Don't go into the light! That is the way to heaven! It is too early for you to go there! Come back this way!" Ariette shouted, from behind Claude.

_Go to the light_

"Ariette!" Claude shouted. He also realised the strange music was beckoning him into the light.

_Dare yori mo atsui jounetsu o mune ni sakasetai_

"Don't listen to the music! Listen to your heart!" Ariette shouted.

_Tooi yume sae mo terashidasu doko ni ite mo_

"Claude. I am proud of you. Proud to have you as my son. After this, you will not be just Ronixis J. Kenni's son, but Claude C. Kenni, a hero of the universe. Make me proud son and remember, I will always be there for you," his father said. Claude stared at his father for a bit, as a cheerful smile played upon his father's face.

_Go to the light_

"You too, Ariette. I'm proud of you. Not a day would pass when I would get comments on how much you flourish each day. Look, you even changed your hair. Very pretty. I regret going to investigate Milocinia, but on the other hand, I do not. Otherwise a great horror might have befallen our universe. You must both work together, along with your comrades, to defeat these evil entities. Only you can do this," Ronixis said. 

_Kuyashisa mo zenbu kizameru tsuyosa o daite_

Ariette looked like she was going to cry. Claude walked some more towards her.

_ikutsu no yo ake mo koeteku_

"It's alright Ariette. We'll get through this. Twins forever and for always. You know that, don't you?" Claude asked. Ariette nodded and buried her face in Claude's chest, holding him tightly.

_"Watashi" to iu arika mitsukeru tame_

"Sayonara, my children. And remember, I love you and I always have. Send my regards and apologies to your mother," Ronixis said. As he faded into the light, the music stopped and darkness enveloped them once again…

**Author's note: **The song in this is "Go to the Light" by Hattan Amika, from the anime Star Ocean Ex. : )


	8. Chapter 8: Pinnacle of the Tower

Chapter 8

**Author's note: **Hello! Chapter 8 is here, please read and review! They're much appreciated. Enjoy

**Chapter 8**

**Pinnacle of the tower**

Ashton and the others winded their way through the worst maze yet. Leon and Ashton worried over how Celine was doing, and Precis and Rena worried over how they were going to defeat this enemy on their own. They came to a large flight of stairs and they started ascending them. They opened the door at the very top and were greeted by blinding white light. They entered further and the light subsided, into a room that was slightly darker than normal. They saw a large spherical object at the very end of the room, and a figure in white stood staring at it. His red hair was down his back, looking quite messy. He turned around to face the party.

"Tsk, tsk. I see we have lost some friends, no?" He said. Ashton stepped forward and pointed one of his short swords at him.

"Ha! That's what you think! They're perfectly fine. It's you who should be worried," Ashton shouted. Precis and Rena winced, as they did not think this a good idea.

"Well, well. This coming from the guy who never gets anything right. In reality, you're a bumbling coward with no skills," Indaelcio said. Ashton tried to argue back, but Precis stopped him.

"And who else do we have? Ah, the Nedian brought up on that worthless planet we demolished. And now she's here, all alone, without her prince to save her, as what usually happens," Indaelcio said. Rena growled, looking angry.

"And next we have a girl who messes with machines, considered a freak among her brethren. Doesn't seem to act her own age either. A truly worthless being," Indaelcio laughed. Precis just gave a light noise of contempt and ignored him.

"And finally, an arrogant brat who thinks he knows it all, but in reality is a big baby and can't fight a battle without whining about it. Pathetic," Indaelcio said. Leon got a little angry and sent gremlins after him. Indaelcio dodged and laughed.

Precis and Ashton started the attack, attacking with all they had. Indaelcio countered their attacks and sent them flying. But they refused to give in. Leon chanted spells from his book and Rena kept them all intact.

"_DAEMON'S GATE!_" Leon shouted. It didn't do much damage, as Indaelcio recovered quickly.

"Damn. What the hell are we supposed to do? This is useless," Ashton said.

"But we can't give up without a fight," Precis said, dodging another attack. But while doing this, she did not realise that that was a doppelganger. Indaelcio came up behind her and went to strike. His arm was caught deftly by Chisato, who had skimmed in here at the last minute. Precis opened her eyes and saw that Bowman and Chisato were attacking Indaelcio alongside Ashton.

"Bowman! How did you get here?" Precis shouted, as she joined in the fight.

"Well, with a hand from a new ally, Chisato and Noel were awakened and of course, we couldn't let you have all the glory," Bowman laughed. Precis saw that some rocks were being thrown at Indaelcio. She looked back and saw Ryo throwing them from the sidelines.

"Wow, so they're on our team now?" Precis asked. Bowman nodded and they carried on fighting.

"_LIGHT CROSS!_"

"_FOEHN!_" Rena and Noel shouted, as a wave of mist and darkness came pouring down on Indaelcio, with shiny light crosses sparkled around him. It did not have much affect, but it did break his concentration, stopping a large attack from occurring. But their luck was running short. They tried their hardest to do lots of damage, but there was a long way to go. Indaelcio looked ready to unleash a powerful move.

"I cannot imagine how you managed to get past Cyril. With this weak a power, not even recruiting a few new people has helped you out much, has it? Well, you could always run away. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you go without hurting you. What do you say?" Indaelcion asked.

"Never!" Celine shouted. She ran in and had her staff at the ready. Opera and Ernest, along with Aniki ran in after her and the two former took up battle positions, while the latter stayed at the edge of the battle, gathering some large objects to throw at the enemy.

"Celine! You're back!" Ashton shouted.

"Yes, darlings! Now let's defeat this jerk and get out of here. This is not very good for my hair," Celine replied. Opera and Ernest battled as normal and everyone was more motivated now. Celine, Leon, Rena and Noel gathered and started chanting a spell. Ashton also seemed to be mumbling some words. The air in the room seemed to tense up and energy seemed to be gathering around the spell casters.

"_STAR FLARE!_"

"_MAGNUM TORNADO!_"

"_NORTHERN CROSS!_"

"_SOUTHERN CROSS!_"

"_EXTINCTION!_" Rena, Noel, Ashton, Celine and Leon shouted. Darkness filled the room, making it look void. It was circling around Indaelcio, who couldn't move at all. A cross of stars descended noisily from above and an ice star shaped shiny object came from below. Dancing stars of flame ascended and joined Celine's attack and a tornado twisted these together creating a force that had never been seen before the black quilted the blinding twinkles of light and they all compressed around Indaelcio, until an explosion of stars occurred.

Indaelcio was left looking very weak. But he still got up. This surprised everyone, as that attack should have finished him, as they thought. He turned to the large stone behind him and weakly started to beckon it.

"Come…Filia. We shall start this early," he said, arms raised. But the stone did nothing.

"What?! Where are the vital components?" Indaelcio asked, angrily. He turned swiftly and, as he thought, the two thieves who were watching from the sidelines were holding some of his instruments. He got very angry and started flying towards them, but slower than normal. But Claude and Dias appeared in front of them.

"Oh, no you don't. _KUU HA ZAN!_" Claude and Dias shouted. Blades of blue wind criss-crossed Indaelcio and Indaelcio plummeted backwards and fell to the floor. He was barely holding on anymore, blood dripping from his mouth. Claude and Dias went forward and readied their swords to strike again. Indaelcio looked up at them with a mad look in his eyes.

"Hehehe, you think you can beat me? Never," he said. Strong gusts blew Claude, Dias and the rest of the party back into the wall. He was chanting words to summon something. The room lit up with fiery red. Two chakrams flew around the room and homed in on Indaelcio. They were on fire and they hit him with a terrible force, which flew him into the far wall.

Blood spattered the wall and created what looked like wings behind him. He looked dreadful, like he was feeling sorry for himself.

"I will….be back….just you wait…" he said, before giving up the ghost. Everyone stared at Indaelcio for a while, until they heard the sound of someone collapsing. They turned their heads, to find Ariette half-conscious on the floor. Claude ran to her and held her head up.

**Author's note: **Yeah, if I didn't change the other chapters that had circlets in, then please just imagine that I did. They're chakrams, I didn't know what they were called when I first wrote this.


	9. Chapter 9: Separate Ways

Author's note: Hey there

**Author's note: **Hey there! Thanks for your reviews, I've decided to update quicker this time. xD Please read and review! Enjoy

**Chapter 9**

**Separate ways**

"Heh…I lived up to father's wishes. And…you Claude," Ariette said. Claude stroked her hair.

"Yeah. Now we can figure out a way to get home," Claude said. Ariette smiled and rested a little. Mayor Narl came in.

"Thank you…all of you. Now we can rest in peace, knowing they are gone. We will now make all the alterations and get Expel back into orbit. Nede, of course, can no longer keep going. This will take our last energy," Mayor Narl explained. Rena walked forward.

"But! What about Nede? We can't let Nede go in Expel's expense," Rena said. Narl shook his head.

"Nede has been going long enough. It is only bad luck that didn't allow us to find another planet to move onto. Whether we brought back Expel or not, Nede will still only last so much longer…I'd give it another year or two…This way we are doing a good deed, it is the little we could do to make up for all the planets which have fallen under the victim of the ten wise men. So, don't worry about us. Noel, Chisato. I wish for you to join Claude and his friends. So that atleast our legacy lives on for a little while longer," Narl said.

He walked over to the giant spherical object. He turned back towards everyone.

"Now, I don't think I could get very far without all the components. And I'm sure they won't sell for much either. So if you please?" Narl asked, in a light mood. The thieving trio returned the parts, lightly slapping Narl's back jokingly. Narl reassembled the device.

"Would young Master Leon come here? Maybe you would like to help activate this? For future reference in your experiments?" Narl asked. Leon stepped forward proudly.

"Yes, I certainly would," Leon replied.

"Now, with a bit of luck, some other Nedians from this planet will be transported randomly along to Expel too. I have set the preferences and it will open the force field surrounding Energy Nede, allowing safe passage for all who get transported…Everyone has known for a while about this apocalypse. For about five years now. So that is why you see no children in this place. Just adults. A good reasoning, I believe. I believe everything is in order. All of you need to step into this area here," Narl said.

Everyone grouped together in the space specified and waited for the transaction. The ground started shaking and parts of the wall was cracking and breaking. The last thing they saw before leaving the planet was Narl waving happily at them. They saw almost complete darkness, with stars and pretty colours shining off in the distance. All those who had not seen anything past their own planet gasped in amazement. Claude squeezed the hands of the two girls most important to him, as they both smiled at the fact that they were going home.

"Wow, darlings, what a view! Looks like one whole trove of treasure," Celine said, clinging to Aniki's arm.

"Yeah, maybe we could steal it. It'd make a lot of money," Aniki commented. Celine hit him in the arm and laughed. They eventually landed and found themselves in Shingo Forest.

"Wow. Where our adventure first began, eh, Rena?" Claude asked. Rena looked up at him and nodded.

Celine and Aniki walked out of the group.

"Well, darlings. Now that that is all over, I guess we'll be parting ways. Just make sure you guys keep in touch. Come Ryo and Juro. We have treasure to find. Maybe we will set up a help group…I know! We'll commission as a group who does errands and jobs for people, at a small cost," Celine said.

"Yeah, but how're we gonna get money to survive before we start getting paid?" Ryo asked.

"Hahaha, I have all the money we need to start of with, so don't worry about it darlings," Celine replied. They waltzed off, all linking arms.

Ashton looked at Precis.

"Sooo…do you wanna go get something to eat?" Ashton asked. Precis took hold of his hand.

"Yeah, but can we go visit the old man first? I haven't seen him in AGES," Precis replied. They happily walked off. Bowman walked a bit outwards.

"Hey, Noel. How 'bout I show you around? There's a great cave near Linga that, once we rid it of monsters, will be full of animals," Bowman asked. Noel stepped forward.

"Thank you for your invitation. I will gladly accept your generous offer," Noel replied.

"Aww, c'mon. Hang loose, man. We need to take you to a bar full of ladies," Bowman said, dragging Noel by the arm.

"Uh, um. I think I change my mind. Noooooo, help me!" Noel shouted, as he was dragged off.

"…Bowman, do you need a hand getting rid of the monsters?" Dias asked. Bowman stopped and returned.

"Hmmmm. Sure! We could do with your strength," Bowman replied. Dias nodded and walked up to Rena. He rubbed her head and wished her the best of luck.

"You take care of Rena. Maybe next time we meet, we can finish off our battle," Dias said, turning around and walking off, with Chisato excitedly saying that she smelt a story in the making.

"You bet we will and don't worry about Rena," Claude shouted back. Dias put a hand up in recognition. Opera and Ernest walked up to Claude.

"May we be so bold as to ask for a ride home? When you manage to find rescue, that is," Opera asked. Claude nodded.

"First, let's go say hello to Rena's mother and then we need to take Leon home," Claude said. They all nodded and walked through into Arlia. Through the whole time, Leon looked down. They reached Rena's home and said hello to Westa. Rena asked her mother for her permission to travel with Claude. Westa agreed and they happily set out for Lacour Castle. They saw that, on entering the town of the Kingdom of Lacour, everything seemed normal and hectic as usual. A girl with long brown hair came up to Claude.

"Hey, are you one of the ones who saved the universe? And who saved Nede's dignity?" The girl asked. They realised the girl had pointy ears, much like Rena's.

"Hey, so some of you guys made it here! That's great to hear," Opera said.

"Yeah, the great mayor Narl and the other town mayors came together and talked it through. They used all their powers and granted a spell that would transport all the Nedians who could survive in another environment, in a different place and all those who were not adamant on dying in their homes. I'm so glad I got to meet you guys. It's a shame you couldn't see the real Nede. In history class, we saw that it was so beautiful. Well, as one of the remaining Nedians, I will keep our race going!" The girl said. She shook everyone's hand and ran off.

Claude expressed how pleased he was to see that some of the Nedians managed to escape their fate.

"Hahaha, again, if I ever come across fate, I'm gonna beat 'em bloody," Opera laughed. Ernest laughed along with her. They headed over to the castle and requested an audience, just to let the King know what was going on.

"Ah, Leon. You have made it back safely. So, I hear the Sorcery Globe has gone. And even more astonishingly is the news of the cities of El being back to normal, as if nothing had happened! And all the towns of Lacour and Cross which were damaged during the Sorcery Globe incident have been restored," King Lacour said. Claude and Rena expressed their relief that everything was back to normal and explained what had happened-leaving nothing out.

"So, as you can tell, there will be refugees from Nede spread across the globe," Claude finished.

"Worry yourself not. They will be very welcome here," King Lacour said. Claude and Rena finished up and they were greeted by the arrival of Leon's parents.

"Mama, papa! I missed you so much! I knew you would be alright," Leon said, hugging his parents. Claude and Rena looked at each other and laughed.

Claude walked up to Leon and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm glad your parents are alright. I wish you well and we promise to come visit you. But now, we must leave," Claude said, turning for the door.

"Big brother! Wait!" Leon shouted, running up to Claude and holding onto him.

"What is it Leon?" Claude asked. Leon cried into Claude's jacket.

"I don't want you to leave me! I want to go where you go and see the place you came from. I want to see everything," Leon cried. Claude rubbed Leon's head.

"But it's different and dangerous. You might get hurt-," Claude started.

"Don't you dare say that I'm too young. Big sister is going with you. I wanna come too," Leon said. It struck Claude, as Leon started talking differently, that he was not being his usual proper self. Claude rubbed Leon's head some more.

"Ok, Leon. But as long as it's alright with your parents," Claude said. Leon cheered up a little and talked with his parents. Opera walked up to Claude and told him he did the right thing. Ernest sighed, wondering if it was a good idea taking two people from backwater planets to other places. Leon came running back to them looking all happy and they set off.

Claude got out his communicator and dialled a number for the Earth Federation.

"Hello? Who is this?" A woman's voice asked.

"I am Claude C. Kenni, son of Ronnixis J. Kenni. I need a ship to come and pick me up from Expel, co-ordinates 144443-556736-992273. It is a backwater planet. I have one other Earthling, two Tetrageniots, a Nedian-Expellian and a Fellpool-Expellian with me," Claude answered.

"That's right, isn't it? I was wondering why little Leon looked so different! He's a Fellpool," Opera said. Leon looked from Claude to Opera in confusion.

"What do you mean? 'Fellpool'? I am from Expel!" Leon said.

"Look kid, there's lots of explaining that needs to be done. First we need to get a ship home," Ernest said.

"Kenni? You mean-? You're alive? Thank heavens. We thought we had lost the both of you. Well, I need all of your friend's names, so I can put it in a database," the woman said.

"Ariette M. Kenni, Opera Vectra, Ernest Reviede, Rena Lanford and Leon D. S. Geeste," Claude said. A few minutes later, he closed his communicator and sat down on the grass.

They stayed in the castle that night, as Leon's guests. Claude sat in Rena's room and they talked.

"So, Rena…are you sure you're willing and ready to travel to distant and strange new places?" Claude asked. Rena nodded.

"I want to see new places. And wherever you go, I will go. I don't want to lose you again," Rena replied. Claude told her not to be silly and Claude kissed her good night before leaving the room for his own room. Leon calmly packed some things in a small bag for the journey and everything. Ariette sat in her room, feeling down. She brought out a picture she had of herself and Claude, when they were seniors in high school. Her face was full of colour and her yellow hair was the same as Claude's hair, only longer. At that point, it was only part way down her back. She remembered how she once dared him to dress up as her and go into high school, while she dressed as him. They fooled everyone and managed to keep that forever a secret. But now she was alone; her favourite person was now besotted with another girl. She cried, as she realised the bond they shared was breaking and that she will never be happy again.

She got up and walked out of the castle. Down the streets and out of the city. She saw a cliff, the water slowly brushing against the cliff edge. Sharp rocks stood at the bottom of the water, directly under where she was standing. She stared at them. She took a step forward. Before she could take another step, something grabbed the back of her nightgown gently.

"Please don't. It's not worth it. You'll only break big brother's heart," Leon said from behind her. She spun around and there stood Leon, looking down.

"I saw you leave your room. I…knew what you were thinking. It's the same thing I feel, only your pain is bigger. You're twins, huh?" Leon said. Ariette's eyes filled up with tears and she put her sleeve to her eyes, crying gently. She fell to the ground and onto her knees. Leon went to his knees and put his tiny arms around her.

"It's alright. There's nothing wrong in sharing your feelings. Please, let's go inside and we can talk about this," Leon said. Ariette nodded and Leon led her back in by the hand. They sat in Ariette's room and Ariette spilled all her worries and fears. Leon listened to her all the way through.

"Yes. I understand. Although I have not had a twin or even a sibling myself, having Claude, Rena and now you, Ariette, in my life, has made me a better person. You guys are like my older brother and sisters. You guys are lucky, to be twins, to share problems with and to be with each other, having a good time. I was always in the lab, testing some new theory out. I guess that's why I'm such a brat. Big brother Claude and Big sister Rena were so brave and stood up to the enemy. And big sister Ariette too! Look at the way you took that guy out. I had to be persuaded and threatened into battle. I was useless. But my friends helped me out. That's why I think that, even though Claude has Rena now, he will always be there for you and I will be there. So will Ashton and the others. I learned a lot from those guys. They say that there is no I in team," Leon said.

"…But without friendship, nothing will be solved," Ariette completed in a quiet voice. She sighed and lay back on the bed.

"Thanks Leon. I really appreciate it. You know? Claude said to me, as he was carrying me all the way to the top of the tower, that he had some wonderful friends and that they would all make me welcome. I never thought that you'd be this nice. I thought Claude was a goner for a bit there. Trust him to try to go into the light," Ariette sighed. Leon wished her a goodnight and returned to his room.

Morning came and everyone gathered outside the city. After half an hour of waiting, a large ship came down and transported them up.

"WOW! Look at this thing, it's so shiny," Leon said, running off and looking around the ship, with Ariette going along with him to keep an eye on him. They didn't get far, as they were stopped by some people in blue uniforms.

"Miss. Ariette! We're so glad to see you're safe," one of them said.

"Yeah, I managed to get off of there with some help and met Claude and these guys along the way," Ariette said.

"But what happened to your hair?" The other one asked.

"Oh. I was…experimented on and my hair went this colour," Ariette said, sounding upset. Leon saw this and strode up to the man.

"What has it got to do with you, huh? Gentlemen are supposed to say 'I like your new hairstyle' not 'what happened to you hair?' You are being egotistic and ignorant, not taking into account that you might hurt a lady's feelings by such a question," Leon said. The man looked shocked. The woman elbowed him.

"Yeah, Ryan. You're insulting the late commodore's daughter. Even a cute little kid can point that out," the woman said. Ryan apologised and Ariette mildly accepted it. They were taken into a lounge, were they all sat down and the woman started talking to them.

"I'm Joanne. But you may call me Jo. I welcome you to our ship and hope your time away from Earth has not been too stressful," Joanne said. Claude declined this statement and asked if his mother knew about his father. She nodded.

"Oh, could we stop at Tetragene? Opera and Ernest are hoping to go home but they didn't have a ship left to power," Claude asked. Joanne nodded and told them to make themselves at home. Opera and Ernest went into a deep discussion about what they were going to do next and Claude and Rena cuddled together. Leon and Ariette decided to wander around the ship. Ariette told Leon all about what room was what and what each of the things did. Leon was fascinated and said that he wouldn't mind making one of these things. After what seemed like such a short time, due to everyone's interests in each other or of the fascinating components of the ship and the hyper galactic warp speed the ship was set to, they reached Tetragene: planet of the multi-coloured and of simplicity. Tetragene was one of the most developed planets around, but due to their like of tradition and beauty, it was not much different to 20th Century Earth, which Earth had surpassed in appearance a century ago.


	10. Chapter 10: Back to Earth

Chapter 10

**Author's note: **Hello! Here is chapter 10, as you can see. Thanks for the reviews, they're awesome to read. Please read and review!

**Chapter 10**

**Back to Earth**

Strange creatures roamed the world and were intertwined with Tetragene's everyday lifestyle. Opera and Ernest were transported down and Claude, Rena, Leon and Ariette waved them good-bye. They set off for home, where new adventures would only just be the beginning. When they reached the blue and white planet, Leon and Rena stared in wonder at the new place. They were transported down into the bustling Space Station, were happy smartly dressed people took them through to customs. Ariette was scanned and unfortunately the buzzer went off.

"I'm sorry, miss Ariette. It seems you may need a medical check up. Something is slightly off with you," the security man sighed, looking sorry for her. Ariette nodded in understandment. Claude got through fine and Leon and Rena were to go to the immigrants centre. A kind looking woman sat before the two Expelians. Claude sat in with them. Ariette went straight for the medical bay.

The woman scanned each of them.

"Firstly, young sir. You are of Fellpool descent, correct? But it does not seem to recognise you being a Fellpool," the woman said.

"I'm an Expelian, not a Fellpool," Leon said.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Leon _is _of Fellpool descent but he doesn't know about his real lineage of being from the planet Roak and he lived on Expel for what I'm presuming most of his life. Expel is an unchartered planet in the region 10 light years south of Tetragene. Expel is underdeveloped and has a variety of different attributes, including the ancient art of Heraldry. I will give you a report at a later time, if need be," Claude explained. The woman nodded and continued to note things down on her clipboard.

"Okay. What is your full name, birth date…" the woman asked many questions. After Leon was dealt with, Rena was asked the same things.

"Ah, the ancient race of Nede. I believe Earth has a number of files on that particular planet. We were lucky to meet the Nedians about a century or two ago. A very interesting race," the woman said. Claude was surprised, as this had never been mentioned before, either by his father or other comrades, or from his short time on Nede.

Some time later they went to the medical bay and Ariette had got a couple of jabs, as all the things she went through had affected her body in some way. Claude smiled at her and hooked his arm around her neck.

"What'd I tell you? Naughty exploring will get bad rewards," Claude laughed. He jumped out of the way as Ariette went to playfully hit him. They laughed and this cheered Ariette up, as she felt the old Claude was coming back to her. She linked her arm in his and they walked along until they were eventually escorted into a free taxi. Unlike other developed planets, Earth had not yet reached the stage where they could have floating cars. But they had solved global warming. The appearance of Earth in general had not changed in the millennia, which had passed since the 21st century. Only that the once suffering countries were all caught up with the likes of America and England. World hunger and diseases had been conquered and of course, the space industry had reached its bonus when new designs of ships had rolled in from a certain someone's ancestors. Earth was prospering in a way were they could now focus on the lesser and more selfish upgrades, now that no one was in poverty or dying of unnatural causes.

Claude and Ariette, along with two misty-eyed 'newbies', were dropped off at the door of their parents' apartment building. They owned the top floor of the fancy apartment building and so they had to ride the elevator all the way to the top. Rena seemed to make herself smaller, not liking the strange thing that she was in. Claude put his arm around her.

"Don't worry Rena, you're perfectly safe. These things just take us up and down the building to wherever we want to go," Claude explained. Leon, on the other hand, was fascinated by the elevator. He asked questions as to how it worked and all other sorts of things. They got to the top and entered a fancy hallway, which was small, but led on to much bigger rooms. There were eight doors, all to which had fancy décor. A woman with blonde hair tied up in a bun entered from one of the rooms on the left.

"Claude! There you are! I have been so worried," the woman said. She embraced Claude tightly.

"Mom, enough. Ariette is back! We found each other during our adventure," Claude said. His mother stepped back and Ariette walked and stood next to Claude. She messed with her hair nervously.

"Things happened and my hair changed colour. I hope you like it. I quite like it now," Ariette said. Her mother blinked, and bringing up tears, she embraced Ariette with more vigour than she had with Claude.

"I was even more worried about you, Ariette. You've been gone for so many months. I'm so glad you're back safely. And you're hair is really pretty," her mother said. Claude stepped forward.

"These are our friends, Leon D. S. Geeste and Rena Lanford. Rena and I are…you know, we're together," Claude said, going red. His mother looked really happy.

"I am glad to meet you. You may call me Iria. I am Claude and Ariette's mom," she said. Rena bowed and Leon nodded. They took a seat in the living room and Claude's mother brought in some drinks and snacks. They discussed what had happened to Claude after he disappeared.

"And Ariette, what happened to you?" Her mother asked. Ariette went red with shame.

"I, uh. I got kidnapped by some shady characters when I was walking home from staying late at school. They treated me roughly and tried to…um, well, do bad things to me," Ariette said. Her mother gasped and Claude put his arm around her, in which she buried her head in Claude's jacket.

"I was taken to this weird planet. And they did all sorts of tests on me. Like my hair. It changed colour, as it reacted to a chemical they inserted into me. It was horrible. I felt like…like I didn't want to live anymore. But I was rescued by this tall blond guy. He was really nice and tried to get me as far away from there as possible. He said he couldn't get me anywhere safer as he was not supposed to be there in the first place. I managed to last a few days, but then the jerks found me. I started running away, but I couldn't run fast enough. Luckily I was saved again. This time by Cyril. I thought he was being nice…but it looks like he was just using me," Ariette said.

Silence pursued, as neither one of them could think of anything to say.

"Ariette…don't fret it. All that matters is that you're safe now. We'll get you into a good college and you will not have to worry anymore," her mother said. Ariette thanked her and told her that she would think about it.

**Author's note: **If you're wondering about the name of Claude's mother, it is taken from the first game as a sort of guess at who it might have been. This was suggest by someone else, not me. I haven't played the first game.


	11. Chapter 11: Reunion

Author's note: Hey everyone, thanks for your reviews, they're awesome to read

**Author's note: **Hey everyone, thanks for your reviews, they're awesome to read. x3 This next chapter is the last chapter of the first part. So worry not, there is still plenty to read! Enjoy!

**Chapter 11**

**Reunion**

One year went by and Leon had made himself quite big among the Earth sciences, coming up with various new ideas. His biggest creation was the idea of teleportation. He filled the holes in all of the puzzled theories, which could not pinpoint how this would go about. He also managed to make his own ship, just like he said he would. It was his idea, therefore, to go find out how the others are doing. Claude had taken Rena to a beautiful place in Brazil, where there was the equivalent of Shingo forest there, only bigger. The stars were shining and it was when the sky was crystal clear. The stars danced in the sky and all sorts of pretty colours could be seen. He chose that moment to propose to Rena. She blushed and accepted.

Ariette had given up the idea of college. Instead she took to the arts, as she had always been a lover of art, literature and music. She was very creative and this meant that she could do all three very well. It kept her mind out of the depressive thoughts she got when she tried one week of college. She had looked at the picture of her and Claude, back when they had matching hair colour. She had painted beautiful pictures of Claude and herself, Claude and Rena and all four of them. A visitor to their house, who was visiting her mother, had noticed the pictures and this led to picture commissions. People liked the emotion she put into the pictures of them and their loved ones. But before the year had passed, she eventually fell into sullenness once more. But the prospect of seeing her new friends again seemed to perk her up.

So it was then that they got onto Leon's specially made ship and headed out into the vast sea of stars once again. They headed to Tetragene first of all, as it was on the way. They managed to find Opera in a pub, challenging everyone to a drinking contest, with Ernest watching from the sidelines, sighing as he let her get on with it. Claude sidled up to Ernest.

"Hey Ernest, how have you been?" Claude asked. Ernest looked up in surprise and stood up.

"We have been perfectly fine. What brings you to this-er-place," he asked. Claude asked him if he wanted to come to a big reunion and he agreed. He managed to prise Opera off the Sake and out of the pub. They boarded the ship again and headed off. They got Expel a lot faster than when they were leaving it, on account of Leon's all new speed boost. Of course, Claude was the one flying the thing, as Leon was not old enough yet to fly one nor did he want to fly one. They transported down to Linga first, to find an explosion coming from the middle of the town and a scared Ashton running away with the bottom of his clothes on fire. Luckily no one was hurt. Precis came out of the smoke cloud full of soot and Claude walked up to them.

"Are you guys alright?" Claude asked. Precis nodded.

"Haha, just a failed experiment. So, what's up?" Precis laughed. Claude explained the reunion thing and Precis and Ashton loved the idea. They went along to Bowman's house to see if he was there. He was playing cards with Noel, who was failing miserably.

"Hey Bowman, do you want to come with us on our ship and adventure, for old time's sake? Plus, Rena and I are getting married and want to invite you guys to come," Claude said. Bowman threw his cards down and immediately started packing. Noel stood up and walked back and forth a little, not knowing what to do. Bowman gave a sigh and packed his things for him too. They went downstairs and he told Nineh what was going on.

"I will be back soon. A couple of months maybe," Bowman told his wife, who nodded, telling them to have fun. Claude brought out a phone device and gave it to Nineh.

"Type in this number and you will be able to contact Bowman at any time," Claude explained, to which she thanked him graciously. They left the shop and continued on towards Lacour, where Dias and Chisato were supposedly last seen. Unfortunately they had already moved on. They got on a ship to Herlie and just as they had barely left the ship, they heard a large thunder clap.

They turned to see what it was and it was Celine fighting some shady looking guys. Aniki and the other two were holding knives. Once they had finished with the guys, who dropped a precious object, Celine picked the object up and returned it to a young lady, who paid them some gold. Claude approached them and Celine gave him a big hug in excitement.

"Well, darlings, it's so nice to see you again," she said. Claude told her about the get together and she was delighted. She had to put a sign up, saying that her business was closed for a while. And so, they set off to find Dias and Chisato. They found them in Cross, where Dias was telling some nasty guy to leave a little girl alone. He ended it by hurting him with his blade. He turned around to see Claude and everyone; eyed them curiously and sighed. Claude went up to him and told him what they were there for.

"…I see. So you two think you're ready for that?" Dias asked.

"Yes. We are. What's the point in waiting longer for something we're ready for already?" Claude asked. Dias made a noise of contempt.

"Dias, please be alright with this. I want you to, um, you know, give me away," Rena said, shyly. Dias glared at Claude.

"To him? I want to give you to him? Huh. Sure thing," Dias said. Claude looked happy.

"…if he beats me in a duel," Dias said. Rena's face dropped and Claude got angry.

"Why?! It's not up to you anyway. Come on Rena, you can have someone else give you away…," Claude said. Rena sniffed.

"But…Dias is my older brother. The only male family I have. But I don't want Dias and Claude fighting," Rena said. Claude shouted at Dias some more, telling him that he was hurting Rena's feelings. Dias turned away and walked off.

"If you can't be a man and fight me, then you can't be the one Rena marries," Dias said. Claude got angry.

"Fine! Come back here and fight me, you jerk," Claude shouted. Dias turned around and smirked. They both got ready to fight.

"_RIPPER BLAST!_" Claude shouted. Dias just missed it and came back with his Chaos Sword, to which Claude jumped out of the way.

"_SHOOTING STAR!_" Claude shouted. This hit Dias, but did not do much damage. They battled it out for what seemed like ages.

"Wow, Claude! I didn't think you'd be any good at fighting. You were such a wimp back in high school. Get him Claude, get him! Otherwise he won't let you have Rena," Ariette shouted.

"Thanks Ari. Just the support I really need," Claude said dryly. The clanks of steel on steel sounded around the town and soon many people were watching. Claude used a number of his moves and so did Dias, but neither affected each other all that much. Unfortunately Claude tired out too quickly and Dias, noticing this, gave his all in the next swing of his blade and he hit Claude off his feet. Dias sheathed his sword and walked up to Claude.

"…You lose," Dias said. Claude got up in anger and ended up back down on his knees due to the pain in his side. Rena ran quickly to him and healed him.

"That's not fair! You have been fighting for longer than me. And if Rena wants to be with me, shouldn't she be the chooser?" Claude moaned.

"…Quiet, moron. I said you lost, I didn't say that you couldn't marry Rena," Dias said. Claude looked up in shock.

"You mean-?!" Claude said. Dias closed his eyes and then looked up at the sky.

"…I guess I could walk little Rena down the aisle. But if you so much as hurt a single hair on her head-," Dias started.

"-You'll hurt and kick my ass until I'm begging for death. I know and I won't," Claude sighed. Dias chuckled slightly. They returned to Leon's ship, on the way picking Westa up, as she was Rena's mother and needed to be at the wedding. On returning to Earth, they allowed the others time to admire the new place and then picked Claude's mother up. Claude had chosen a beautiful location in the heart of Africa, were a beautiful countryside town was settled. Numerous important people, particularly from Claude's father's comrades, attended the wedding. Claude had chosen Ashton to be his best man. Rena had chosen Precis, Ariette and Celine as her bridesmaids.

It was a beautiful ceremony and everyone started crying near the end. As Claude and Rena bent forward to kiss, Ashton whispered something and Gyoro and Ururun made happy growling noises and Ururun shot ice out of his mouth and Gyoro shot steam out of his mouth. Ice particles flew down on everyone in the church, all sparkly and pretty like. Afterwards everyone complimented Ashton and his dragon friends on his timing of the ice shower. Ashton broke down in tears at his first compliment….and he was in a constant dreamy state throughout the rest of the night. They were taken to a huge pretty ballroom where there were tables in one half of the room, while the rest was dedicated to the dance floor. Ashton stood up and made his speech. He managed to make all the women cry, as his speech was really sweet. Again, he could not believe how well this evening was going for him.

"Maybe weddings are your thing, darling," Celine said. Ashton looked surprised but then looked deep in thought.

"Hey, maybe I could become that guy who made them man and wife. Yes, it's settled," Ashton said all happily. Celine laughed.

"What's so funny?" He asked, sounding hurt.

"You? A priest? Hahahaha, don't make me laugh, darling, it hurts my stomach because I'm laughing too hard," Celine said. Ashton looked hurt and went and sat in a corner. A huge black cloud surrounding him.

Claude walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Ashton turned his head around ready to attack.

"I can so be a priest! Don't laugh," Ashton shouted. Claude backed off a little.

"Err, I was just wondering if you were ok. We're starting the dance soon and I thought you'd want to be there," Claude said. Ashton pouted some more and eventually followed on. Claude and Rena got the first dance, and Ashton did his ice shower trick again. This, along with the disco ball and lowered lights, made the scene look more romantic. Claude gave Ashton a thumbs up and smiled. Ashton felt renewed in happiness. He danced a crazy little dance for a while until he realised the ceiling was on fire. He screamed a bit and Ururun shot some ice at it, getting rid of it. Ashton sighed in relief and continued to make snow; behaving himself. Soon everyone was dancing. Chisato and Dias-very reluctantly, Aniki and Celine, Opera and Ernest, Precis and Ashton, with Ururun shooting snow out too. Aniki's buddies were dancing with each other, for nothing else to do. Leon walked up to Ariette, who was looking quite sullen and asked for a dance.

Ariette accepted, thanking Leon for his kindness.

"Well, I can't just let my big sister look sad now, can I? I only wish I were taller, so that dancing isn't as hard," Leon laughed. Ariette laughed along with him. The rest of the night went beautifully, as Ariette danced with Claude and Noel and Bowman continued to stay out of it, playing cards. One could only hope they weren't playing for money, otherwise Bowman would be a very rich man. Leon made acquaintance with a number of Ronixis' old comrades. He was surprised to find that they knew of him and his works.

"You are a jewel of the universe. Are you planning on joining the Earth Federation?" One of them asked.

"Well, I would not be of much use up there, as I only design and build these new machines. I could not and will not fly one of them. I also want to look out for big sister Ariette, as she has not been feeling well for some time now," Leon replied.

"Indeed. Ever since she came back…she was once a very outgoing and happy young lady. She was voted Prom Queen, you know. Class Valedictorian and school council president…she was skilled in both academic and creative areas. But now she shows no interest in the former," another of Ronixis' comrades said. Leon nodded.

"She wanted to be a doctor or on the Earth Federation, along with Claude. Or atleast something were they could work side by side. I feel they have grown apart a bit," the first man said. Leon nodded sadly.

The rest of the evening went by without failure. The next day they decided to travel space. First they returned Westa home and then they set out to explore.

"First I think we should visit Roak. So that we can see Leon's home planet," Claude said. They could see from out of the windows that Roak was of a mixture of greens and blues.

"Wow, it's so pretty," Rena said. But Rena fell silent after that. Celine looked at her.

"Are you alright, Rena darling?" Celine asked. Rena's eyes flickered and she put her hand to her mouth and ran off towards the bathroom. Celine ran off to see if she was alright.

"What's up with her? Is she sick?" Ashton asked. Everyone murmured, wondering what was going on and Celine soon got back.

"Well. Claude darling, congratulations," Celine said. Claude look confused.

"For what? Are you being sarcastic?" Claude asked. Celine giggled.

"No, silly. You're going to be a father, darling. Rena's merely having morning sickness. You're going to have a baby," Celine giggled. Claude looked shocked.

"What?! But we…" Claude went bright red. The others laughed at him.

"You know, protection doesn't always work, even in this day and age," Ernest said, sounding amused. Claude sighed and nodded, going off to find his wife.

When they got off on Roak, Claude holding Rena's hand. Rena looked a little better, as Claude had given her some tablets. Rena had taken the news with shock and kept blushing bright red, especially when Claude was holding her hand. All around them they saw people with similar appearances to Leon: cat ears. Some even had a tail to go with it. Leon looked different; like he was sad or something.

"They…they look like I do. So this is where I originally came from?" Leon asked. Claude nodded and told Leon that, no matter what, Expel will always be there for him and so will his friends. Leon sniffled and hugged Claude's arm. Ariette walked up to Leon and held onto his hand. Roak was filled with beautiful forests and flowery fields. Animals liked to roam around and the people lived in small towns surrounded by this beauty.

They walked around for a while, taking in the serenity of the town. As they walked through, they saw all sorts off cheerful looking people with all sorts of brightly coloured hair and colourful garbs and robes. People looked at the strange new group and waved. One old woman came up to them.

"Are you Ronixis' children?" She asked. Claude nodded, as she was pointing at Ariette and himself. She smiled brightly and asked of how he was doing. Claude had to break the news to her and she looked crestfallen. The old woman wished them a pleasant life and, after giving them a beautiful and rare flower, walked off happily murmuring to herself, having met Ronixis' prodigal children. Eventually the boarded the airship again, having finished exploring it enough.

Everyone sat around and talked about Roak. Leon seemed a lot happier, knowing about his original roots. Meanwhile, Rena was feeling ill again and found refuge in the bathroom, with Claude helping as much as he could. Dias sat there, looking like he wanted to hurt Claude.

"What's the matter, Dias darling?" Celine asked. Dias growled.

"…He is making her suffer," he said. Celine hit his arm.

"Oh, come on. This is what happens to pregnant women. They go through these things. And you might end up being named uncle. 'Uncle Dias'. Sounds sweet doesn't it, darling?" Celine said. Dias looked strange, like he wanted to throw up. Aniki leaned over to Celine.

"Hey, why don't we have a child? Could be fun, whaddaya say?" Aniki asked, smiling. Celine said smack in the mouth. Aniki quickly recovered and hugged onto Celine's arm.

"Awww, come on. I was just kidding with you. Of course we'll wait until we're married," Aniki said. Celine laughed.

"Married? Who said anything about that?" Celine said, teasing him. They kept at it for a while until Celine started to chant _thunder bolt _at which Aniki dropped the subject.

They decided to make a business much like that of Celine's little help business.

"Ok! But don't we need a name? I mean, being called 'Claude and the others' gets on my nerves," Precis said. Everyone thought for a moment. A number of silly ideas came up and were instantly laughed at or ignored.

"How about…Crescent 16?" Ariette asked. Everyone pondered at that one and agreed. Throughout the next few months they did a whole load of jobs for people and transported people from planet to planet. They were already known for being the saviours of the universe, as the ten wise men were a big threat, and now they were known as the modern Mother Teresa. They were all having a lot of fun and even Dias cracked a smile of delight. They flew their ship off into the endless sea of stars…

**END OF PART ONE**

**Author's note: **There you have it! End of part one! Please tell me what you think by reviewing, construction criticism is accepted.


	12. Chapter 12: Flashback

Author's note: I'm truly sorry for this late chapter, I had no internet during the summer Author's note: I'm truly sorry for this late chapter, I had no internet during the summer. I hope you guys had a great summer. And I hope you have played SO3… PART TWO

**Chapter 12**

**Flashback**

Some 400 years later, the universe was saved once again by a motley group, from a threat, which reached further than the normal space-time continuum: one that was called 4-D Space. These mysterious 4-D beings were nothing more than people, not unlike those who lived in the universe, for they had been called Gods by numerous members of the Federation. The motley group, headed by Fayt, defeated the Sphere Company's boss, Luther, who wanted to delete the Milky Way. They all managed to get back to Elicoor II. Roger went off back home, where he thought up all new adventures with his friends and even his rivalry started hanging around with them.

Nel returned to Her Majesty the Queen, where she reported good news and, along with the other members of the Crimson Squad, formed a group who trained, ready for any unexpected unwanted forces. Airyglyph joined them in this idea and brought back the three brigades, with the Black and Dragon Brigade being assigned a new leader each. These prepared for the unexpected and they and Aquaria trained together. Nel led the Aquarian forces. Adray went off to explore some more and whatever else he normally did.

Cliff, Maria, Mirage, Sophia and Pepitta waited for a ship to come for them. Fayt, however, said he wanted to explore Elicoor for a little longer.

"I kind of want to see what Greeton looks like," Fayt said. Cliff chuckled and wished him luck.

"Aren't you going back to Airyglyph, Albel?" Cliff asked.

"Ha! Not to that cold wasteland. I want to go to that planet that Moonbase was floating around. Anywhere is more interesting than here," Albel replied.

"But Albel, you would find Earth rather boring. You can't go around killing people, you know," Fayt said. Albel gave Fayt a filthy look.

"Oh, so you think I'm a monster, do you? I happen to be reforming myself. I'm not going to kill people for the fun of it. What's the use? It'll only cause more harm," Albel said. Everyone stared at him shocked. He made a noise of contempt.

"Albel, how about you come with me to Greeton, then I'll take you to Earth. What do you say?" Fayt asked. Albel looked uninterested, but sighed.

"Fine. Just don't take too long," he replied.

Cliff and the others went on the ship and Fayt and Albel headed towards Peterny, where they went east through the gate that had never been opened any other time. They walked through various fields and along many paths. This irritated Albel more and more each day.

"Dammit! I hate this. It's such a waste of my time," Albel shouted. Fayt looked at him and sat down under a tree.

"Hey, you're the one who got us lost, remember? 'Take a right.' Sure thing. We should have asked for directions like I wanted to," Fayt sighed. Albel moved closer to the tree. He slid down and stared up at the sky.

"I guess we're going to have to camp out here again," Fayt said. Albel quickly turned to him, not looking amused.

"Again?! I have to put up with you kicking me all through the night?" Albel shouted.

"You're the one who keeps moaning and screaming in your sleep," Fayt replied. Albel quietly fumed for a few minutes. But he gave in eventually and slid to the floor, curling up to sleep. The night went by and Albel had his usual fiery dreams. Some time near morning, he woke up screaming. He clutched his face and muttered the words 'father.' Fayt watched him and put a hand on his shoulder, which made Albel jump.

"Hey, it's alright to let it all out, you know? Don't be hiding it all inside just to keep up a strong appearance. That's why you got the way you were. Too much built up anger and hatred," Fayt said. Albel slapped his hand away and stood up angrily.

"Come one, let's go," Albel said. Fayt sighed and they carried on. After another few days and nights of wandering hopelessly, they reached the gates of Greeton. It was full of machines and strange objects. They had a good look around and Albel was glad to stay in an inn that night.

"Oh, Albel. If you have any, um, gold that you want to take to Earth, it can be changed into Earth money. That way you won't have to rely on someone else for living," Fayt said. Albel nodded and said he would pick it up before they left for Earth.

"Heh, I have a lot of gold. So I should be alright," Albel said. Fayt nodded. They settled down for the night and Albel tossed and turned. Images of his father pushing him out of the way and burning into ashes kept creeping into his mind…

**Author's note: **Hope that was ok, I know it was a little blah at the start with all of the repeated information, but it just shows where the story is going from. It'll get better (hopefully).


	13. Chapter 13: City Life

** Author's note:** Since this fic had not been updated until, like, yesterday, I decided to update with chapter 13 to make it up to you guys, my awesome readers.

**Chapter 13**

**City life**

Albel shot up from his sleep, after having one of his regular nightmares. He was sleeping on a couch in his and Fayt's apartment in the city of New York. He had slept on the couch, for some reason even he could not even explain. He liked the couch, one could say. He stood up drowsily and walked sleepily to the kitchen fridge. The apartment was much like that of a 20th-21st Century New York's apartment, with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room, dining room and kitchen all fused into one. Albel opened the fridge and examined its contents. The more he looked, the more he got frustrated. He started picking things up and throwing them across the room in a fit of rage. Bottles of milk smashed and plates of leftover food broke and splattered the floor. Fayt unlocked and entered the front door during this outburst and stood there.

"Albel! Not again! Will you stop destroying the apartment and getting rid of perfectly good food. What is it this time?" Fayt asked. Albel slammed the fridge door, making the fridge magnets fall off and he stomped half way across the room.

"There are no fizzy drinks left! And I just felt like doing that! I paid for it in the first place," Albel shouted, before slamming his bedroom door.

"Oh for heaven's sake, if you wanted more fizzy drinks, then you should have told me. I'll get them after I return from college. Until then, make sure you don't do anymore damage," Fayt said. Albel stomped out of his room.

"Forget it, I'll get the stuff," Albel said. He was wearing a black uniform, an old-fashioned style police attire with a black police hat. He had become an officer, as his stamina, fighting skills and lack of proper education made this job perfect for him. Fayt stifled a laugh, to which Albel got angry.

"Grrgh, stop laughing and get over it already!" Albel shouted. Fayt was taken aback.

"Wow, you're coming out with some modern language. That's good…for you," Fayt said. Albel growled and stormed out of the apartment. He walked out onto the street and looked up at the many vehicles and creatures that roamed the skies. Earth had developed tremendously over the past four centuries and now there were flying automobiles floating through the sky.

Due to the diversity of Earth's population, where a number of people from other planets had come to settle, bringing their unusual creatures with them, flying creatures transported people from place to place. Albel dodged out of the way of a large flying bird-like thing, which had clumsily fallen out of the sky. Albel whistled and a large black dragon called Reayru descended. Albel mounted the beast and ascended into the sky. He signed into his patrol shift and flew around the city, looking out for wrongdoers. Before enrolling into this job he tried driving a floating car. Needless to say he did not like it that much. He nearly set the car on fire. So he returned to Elicoor and tamed a dragon in the ancient ceremony his father had saved him from. Luckily he summoned a dragon who was not bad tempered; in fact, it was quite the opposite, seeming to have really taken a liking to his master. He passed his licence for flying a large creature around the planet, though.

Albel flew around for while, until he saw a vehicle flying too fast. He sped up and caught up to the vehicle. He got a phone-like device out and started talking into it.

"Slow down, or I will have my dragon grab your car with its teeth, destroying your vehicle," Albel said. The car sped up, blatantly ignoring the large fire-breathing dragon hovering near its back end. Albel sped up and Reayru sank his teeth into its boot. Loud screeching sounds could be heard and the car stopped. Reayru turned around and flew to headquarters. The car was sent to lock-up, where it was kept until the felon came and picked it up, having paid a sum of money for his offence. Albel sighed and returned to observing the town.

While he was on shift, he started holding his head, as numerous horrible images flashed through his brain again. The images made his vision blurry and his limbs feel heavy. Reayru looked back anxiously, as Albel fell backwards in a faint, dropping his hat. The dragon descended slowly, making sure not to hurt his master. Albel woke up sometime later and stared at the sky above him. He lifted his left arm to the sky and stared at it, flexing his normal looking fingers. When he first arrived, Fayt suggested that he could have his arm fixed up and looking like any other arm. Albel found the makeover a lot of help. He sighed, thinking about all the strange things he had met in this absurd world, as he put it. He was almost used to the way things were going. This world made him think a lot, thinking about all the troubles that were in his old home. He smiled faintly, knowing that he had come to the right place and found himself.

All of a sudden, something darkened his sight, as his hat was slammed lightly onto his face. He shot up, took the hat and glared at his attacker. She giggled.

"So, you lost your hat again? You have to start looking after it, you know?" Sophia said. Albel grunted and fell back onto Reayru, staring back up at the sky.

"Things still bothering you? You know, you should go see a doctor or a psychiatrist about this, it might be serious," Sophia said. Sophia had just left the high school and got hit by the falling hat while on her way home. Albel turned his head away from her.

"Heh. I don't need a doctor. I'm perfectly fine," Albel replied.

"You say that, but deep down you're hurting. Share your worries. Don't be afraid to open your heart to those around you," Sophia said.

"You sound like a prissy choir girl. Shut up, I don't need your sympathy," Albel said. Sophia looked hurt. Albel gathered the reins of his dragon and started to prepare to fly. He sighed.

"While I'm at it, do you want a ride home?" Albel asked, feeling dejected. Sophia gratefully accepted and mounted the dragon behind Albel. He told her to hold on, to which she did and he took off. He stopped at a supermarket on the way and picked up some shopping, pilling up on fizzy drinks and sweet stuff.

"You know-," Sophia started, before she saw Albel's glare. "Never mind."

They walked into the apartment building and ascended to their floor in silence. The elevator binged and they exited it. Albel, without a glance at Sophia, entered his apartment and Sophia entered hers, which was opposite the boys'. Albel slammed the door behind him and put all the stuff in the fridge. He took out a can of Dr. Pepper and walked to the couch. He drowned it in one and lay back on the couch, falling asleep. Visions of Luther and others clogged his dreams. Some time later, voices started to enter the apartment and Albel could not awaken fully for the life of him.

"So, how's he been?" Someone asked. A huge sigh came from another.

"I swear he's getting more psychotic each day. Look, he's out on the couch again," Fayt said. The footsteps came closer to the semi-conscious Albel.

"Yeah, looks pretty zonked out to me. Has he-," the first voice said.

"-No, but I'm afraid he might crack and commit some horrendous crime. I mean, no one can totally get rid of old habits," Fayt said.

"Old habits die hard. Well, maybe he just needs some time out, so that he can think things through," the first voice said.

Albel growled.

"Could you worms keep it down?! I have a headache," Albel shouted.

"Wake up Albel, we're all leaving," Fayt said. Albel opened his eyes to find Fayt and Cliff standing not far from him. He got up reluctantly and put his hands to his face. Cliff slapped him on the back.

"Come on, we're going on a trip. Now pack some things," Cliff said. Albel grunted and walked to his room. He slowly packed some clothes into a bag. Over the half a year living on Earth, he had moved out of his old style of clothing and into wearing gloomy black clothing, which could only be described as "mosher" or "goth". It was the only thing he could think of wearing. He returned to the living room after ten minutes of packing. Cliff mocked him for taking so long, to which Albel growled in anger and followed them out into the hallway. Sophia walked out of her apartment packed and Maria joined her moments later.

They got onto Cliff's airship, where Mirage was waiting for them. Albel stomped straight to a spare room and fell into slumber. Mirage started the engines and took off from Earth. They headed for the second planet in the Elicoorian system. Fayt, Cliff and Sophia got off and headed towards Aquaria. They entered the vivacious town of Peterny, where noise and sounds of laughter rang through the air. The town was prospering more, as commerce grew and the tension between the countries of Airyglyph and Aquaria had disappeared. They walked up to the innkeeper of the west-side inn and asked about Nel.

"Hmmm…Nel is currently training some troops in the Kirlsa Training Facility," the innkeeper said. They left the inn and on doing so, they saw Peppita and her troupe walking past the inn.

"Peppita!" Fayt shouted. Peppita turned her head and smiled, running towards them.

"Fayt, there y'are. I haven't seen you in ages. What's up?" She asked.

"Hey, do you want to come with us for a while? You know, for old time's sake?" Fayt asked. Peppita bowed her head for a minute and then lifted her head, smiling and nodding. She danced around a little. Fayt nodded and Peppita told the circus master of her plans, to which they nodded encouragingly. They set off for the Lost City of Surferio. They found Roger straight away, leading his minuscule army out of the town. Fayt approached him.

"Hey Roger, how have you been?" Fayt asked. Roger told them of all the adventures they had been on. Hunting treasure, fighting of monsters and saving the world. Cliff laughed at this.

"Ok, how would you like to come on a _real _adventure with us? A big reunion," Cliff asked. Roger spared no second thought and told his friends they could have a holiday from being superheroes. They sighed with relief and ran back to the town.

They found Nel in the Kirlsa Training Facility, just like the innkeeper said. She was busy training up Farleen and Tynave. Fayt told her of their plans and she bowed her head, deep in thought.

"I have a lot of work to do…," she said.

"Awww, come on. Give yourself a break. Farleen and Tynave could use a break too, from the looks of things," Cliff said, pointing at the two panting women. They nodded.

"Nel, go with them! You need a break," Tynave said. Nel bowed her head once more and after a couple of seconds, she nodded.

"Now we need to find Adray," Fayt said. Cliff groaned.

"Do we really need to find that old man? I mean, he was only with us because he invited himself along," Cliff said. Fayt refused to let it go and they travelled towards Aquios. They visited Her Majesty, who was very happy to see them all well.

"No one has heard from Adray in a long time. In fact, I do not think we have heard from him since Fayt left," Her Majesty replied to their question. Fayt sighed and nodded.

"It is nice to hear you are having a reunion. But where, may I ask, are Albel and the two other young ladies who were with you?" Her Majesty asked.

"Oh, don't worry about them. Maria and Mirage are looking after the ship, and Albel is busy snoozing in one of the rooms on the ship," Cliff replied.

"And how is Albel doing these days? Last I had heard he was going with Fayt," Her Majesty asked.

"He's doing better. He is now in a respectable job on Earth. The only problem is, he is having psychological problems," Fayt replied. Her Majesty nodded, saying that she and His Majesty King Airyglyph had once discussed how his past could affect him far worse than before sometime. Fayt nodded and they said their goodbyes, before bowing and leaving the room. They headed towards a good transportation spot to get back on the ship. They started up the engines and headed off to explore.

**Author's note: **Sorry to any Adray fans, but I couldn't bear to have him around. He's annoying and invites himself. Grrr. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. 3


	14. Chapter 14: Startling new discoveries

**Author's note:** Hey there, new chapter Author's note: Hey there, new chapter! Please read and review. :3

**Chapter 14**

**Startling new discoveries**

They passed planet after planet, with Cliff explaining to the Elicoorians some knowledge of that planet and what it was like. They passed a gloomy planet, which was covered, in black mist.

"Ah. Now that planet is called Milocinia. It was deemed unfit for exploration less than 400 years ago, sometime after the Ten Man Apocalyptic Incident. After a number of people had explored and disappeared through a strange device on that planet, the Earth Federation, the former name of the Pangalactic Federation, forbade further exploration and managed to, with the help of Tetragene, block off the planet with special Symbolic magic. Well, it was Heraldic magic back then, but anyway. Numerous people ended up on different and undeveloped planets. The Federation managed to pinpoint every person who had gotten lost. One of them was the son of a Federation hero and was a hero himself," Cliff explained.

"Ooooh, I never heard that before. What was this apocalyptic incident thing about?" Fayt asked. Cliff put his hands out wide.

"All I know is that some weirdoes went around destroying planets, trying to destroy the universe. The celebrated Federation hero's son and some friends destroyed them and are now heroes. I haven't read much about it though. It's on my list of things to do," Cliff replied. They carried on flying through space.

Albel was sleeping restlessly again. Dark passages and strange cries haunted his sleep this time. A voice cried out to him, unfamiliar and female. Other voices cried out in the background. Obscure images flashed through his nightmares, too dark and vague to make a resemblance to anything. Murmuring voices whispered softly and called out for help. Albel woke up some time later in a sweat. He shook it off and got out of bed. He walked out into the hallway and into the flying/lounge area, where a large screen showing the large blackness mixed with stars and distant planets was showing through. Maria and Mirage were piloting, while the others sat around talking. He walked in there and stared at the outside surroundings, with all its sparkling glory.

"Hello, Albel. Have a nice nap?" Cliff asked. Albel said nothing, still staring at the screen. He walked over to a window to the side of the room and stared out of it. Images from his sleep passed through his mind again, making him hold his head for support. He walked to the middle of the room once again and faced the screen in front of him.

"….We need to turn right. And keep going forward for some time," Albel said, loud and clear. Everyone turned to him.

"Why? What's up Albel?" Cliff asked. Albel stayed silent for some time, looking down at the floor.

"I don't know exactly. I just have a strange feeling. Like something is wrong over there," he replied, shaking his head uncertainly. Maria pressed some buttons and they started turning to the right.

"You can't be serious, Maria. You're taking his command?" Cliff said.

"I wasn't commanding. I just have this horrible feeling in my chest," Albel said.

"Cliff, there isn't really anywhere we are going anyway. We might as well check up on this…Albel, would you come over here for a second?" Mirage asked. Mirage was pressing some buttons and brought up a map on the screen. It showed a red dot flashing in the middle. Mirage pointed at the red.

"This is us. That is Milocinia, which we left half an hour ago. We are going this way. Is there any particular area on this map that you feel this premonition from?" Mirage asked, pointing out all the areas she had explained out. Albel thought for a moment and followed the map with his eyes. Then he picked out a place, which was giving him the worst of headaches.

"Hmmm. I haven't seen that area before. Let's bring up a picture of that area," Maria said. She pressed some more buttons, but a red error box came up. She tried again, but it was no help.

"It either has some strange entity there or it has yet to be explored. We will take extra precaution and put up our shields," Mirage said. They did so and Albel sat down, feeling suddenly sick.

"So Cliff, do you know anything else about that group of people who saved the universe all those years ago?" Fayt asked.

"Not really. I mean, I've heard rumours. Nothing more and rumours are nothing to go by. But I've heard a lot about the hero's father, Ronixis. Back then; from the looks of things, the Federation weren't all that bad. They had a small fleet; they were helping out other planets. But it was some time after his death, and possibly even after his son's time, that things went horribly wrong. I'm just glad they have decided to change their ways," Cliff said.

Albel seemed to be getting worse; he had paled and he was clutching his chest. He had his head bowed and his other hand at his head. Everyone had started to notice this.

"Albel, are you alright?" Sophia asked. Albel stayed silent. Nel shook her head a little.

"When Her Majesty said that Albel could be having problems, I was not ready to believe her. Exactly what is going on here?" Nel asked. Fayt explained, about his constant nightmares and his psychotic episodes. Albel raised his head. They all noticed they were slowing down. Albel stood up and stared out of the front screen. A black planet with white-blue glaciers sticking out of it was some way away. Mirage and Maria pressed some buttons and brought up a scanning screen.

"That is the place. I feel a foreboding presence coming from there," Albel whispered.

"This place! This is definitely not a planet that has been put down in any records. It has some strong levels of unknown substances. It is so strong that we can't even make out whether the substance is safe or not," Mirage said.

"We have to go there," Albel said. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy.

"We can't possibly do that! We don't know what is down there. This could be worse than Milocinia. We need to leave this to the experts," Maria said.

"But, I feel something is down there," Albel shouted.

"How? How is it that you can feel something there? Our sensors and scanners are high-tech and they can't feel anything," Cliff said. Albel held his head, feeling nauseous.

"I hear voices. And they tell me there's something there," Albel said.

"Voices? That's the psychological problems you have! You need to see a doctor," Cliff said. Nel stepped forward.

"I don't think you are right there. Although it is not affecting me like that, I do feel a strange aura coming from that planet," Nel said. Everyone looked at her.

"Yeah, man. It's waay creepin' me out," Roger said. Maria and Mirage looked at each other and nodded. They got out of their seats and walked to the back of the ship. They brought back protective spacesuits for each of them.

"Put these on. You may stay here if you like. I will stay here and watch from above. All of you take a communicator," Mirage explained. Everyone took a communicator and put on a protective suit. As dangerous as they knew it would be, they were also curious to see what could be affecting Albel so much. They were transported down onto the strange planet and saw it was full of what looked like ice. It was, however, mixed with the colours white and blue. Maria got her special equipment out and scanned the air.

"Hmmm…that's strange. It looks icy, but the air is actually at a normal temperature. The oxygen levels are quite high and there doesn't seem to be anything of particular harm in the air. But I wouldn't be too reassured. There could be something this radar misses," Maria explained. Everyone nodded and kept walking on. They split up a little, though not going out of anyone's sight.

"Hey!! Everyone, come and see this," Maria shouted. They all went down the passage that was looking cave-like.

Buried slightly into the surrounding ice, as if the ice was growing over it little by little, was a large ship. It was black and looked stunning.

"Oh my God! This is the one and only Dimensional Streaker: it was the only model built and it was of great stature for its time. This ship went missing about a year after its completion. But there are no proper records as to who was flying the ship," Maria explained, in awe. "Hey, Mirage. Are you getting all this?"

"Yes, I am. I am trying to analyse it right this moment," Mirage replied. Cliff looked impressed.

"Wow, so **this **is the modal that boy genius made. Apparently he was of UP origin. And for you guys, UP means underdeveloped planet," he said to Nel, Roger and Albel, who all nodded in understanding. Maria scanned the ship.

"It looks like the ice substance has made it impossible to see inside from out here. And it has weakened the ship. This is an extraordinary find. We must let the Federation know immediately. Who knows what danger this could bring. Well, Albel, looks like you're going to get your slice of limelight. After all, you are the one who found this place," Maria said.

"Hmph. Whatever," Albel said, back to his usual self.

They found the door and kicked it open, after a good number of laser beams directed at it. It fell creakily to the floor.

"You know, this reminds me of that millennia old movie _Titanic_. It looks like a sunken ship. I guess it is that, in a way," Cliff said. They climbed in through the back door, which wasn't covered in ice and saw that they were in the hold. A number of boxes and normal items were held there. But they were covered in the ice. They carried on walking through and exited the door. A hallway came next, with three doors on either side. Cliff tried to open the first door to his left, but it was locked. It looked like a card key was needed. Cliff shrugged and they carried on into the ship's front, where the controls to steer the ship were. They opened the door and Sophia was first in, everyone else still looking around the hallway. They were immediately summoned into the front by Sophia's scream. They burst into the room, wondering what could be there, thinking maybe a monster was there. But no, it was not a monster. Lying on the floor at either side of the main room were the frozen bodies of some unfortunate people. Fayt walked up to Sophia and Sophia buried her head in his shoulder and he held onto her tightly.

Nel and Maria walked over to the front, where two more bodies were sat on the pilot seats. The first one was a male, looking shocked. He looked like he had been trying to press the buttons as fast as he could. The second was a female. She was holding onto the first male, afraid.

"This is horrible. So they died by freezing?" Sophia cried. Fayt rubbed her back, telling her that it was alright. They looked at the three huddled on the left-hand side of the main room. Two children were holding onto an adult male, in fright. On the right-hand side were a man and a woman, holding onto each other, looking like they were comforting each other. Cliff came walking in.

"Hey, I just smashed one of the doors down and it looks like there could be more in the bedrooms," Cliff said. Maria and Fayt followed Cliff into the room he had bashed down first. A man and a woman were squished onto a single bed, nestling together and seemed to have been sleeping at the time.

"Well, these two were lucky. Died without knowing anything was happening," Cliff said. They walked to the opposite room, which was on the left side of the ship and two lazy looking guys, had they not been covered with ice and frozen to death, would have been snoring away. Cliff shook his head, and they left to visit the next room. The next left-side room contained two people sat on a bed each, playing cards.

"Man, they didn't notice the turbulence? Amazing," Cliff said. The last left-side room was empty and the last right-side room had a man and a woman, with the woman leaning her head on the man's stomach.

Finally, Cliff and Albel entered the last room, which contained a sorrowful girl. Albel started moaning.

"Arrh, my head hurts. And I feel as if I have seen her before," Albel said. He slid to the floor and held his head. Cliff looked at her again and Maria and Fayt were standing in the doorway.

"Hey, I think I've seen her before. You remember that time were I accidentally went back in time? And I said that I saved a girl's life, even though I was breaking every time travelling law in the universe? Well, this is that girl! I always remember a pretty face when I see one," Cliff said. Fayt and Maria sighed. "It's too bad it ended this way."

"Maybe we should return them to their original planets and give them a proper burial. It's only fair," Fayt said. Cliff and Maria nodded. Cliff picked the lifeless ice statue up and took it into the main room. They placed all of the statues in the main room.

"Well, first we should identify them. Maria, you and Mirage work on getting all of the video and any information that may be left on the control computer. We may be able to discover what happened to these people," Cliff said. Maria nodded. Cliff and Fayt got out their analysers. Cliff took the first male and Fayt took the female next to him.

"Now, let's see who we have here," Cliff said.


	15. Chapter 15: Melancholic Mood

**Chapter 15**

**Melancholic mood**

"This one's name is…wow! I can't believe it. Claude C. Kenni. Hey, that's the son of the Federation hero, Ronixis J. Kenni," Cliff said. Fayt finished analysing the girl.

"Rena Kenni, formally Rena Landford, of Nedian and Expelian descent. She seems to be the wife of Claude Kenni," Fayt said. They walked over to the three who were originally huddled on the left side.

"Ashton Anchors. Of Expel. He has twin dragons on his back due to an unfortunate possession by the demons named Gyoro and Ururun. Man, this guy must be unlucky. Next, oh! Leon D. S. Geeste. A Fellpool, raised on Expel. Later lived on Earth for about a year and created this very ship. Amazing. It's a shame he's dead, it would have been interesting to talk to such a genius. Next. Precis F. Neumann. Of Expel. She was quite an inventor. In fact, she seemed to have created things that our planets had and without any taking of ideas. Quite an achievement," Cliff explained.

Fayt was knelt down in front of the two who were on the other side of the ship.

"Wow, that must be amazing, for you to give such compliments," Fayt said, which received a 'hey' from Cliff. "The red headed male. No information is given, only that he goes by the name of Aniki. But he seems to have traces of magic in him. Well, he had magic in him. Next. Celine Jules, of Expel. A Heraldy user and quite a powerful one at that," Fayt said. Cliff walked over to the two who were in the first right hand bedroom.

"Tetragenes. I can see that right away. Ernest Reviede, once a well-known archaeologist and Opera Vectra, who seemed to devout her time to finding Ernest. Quite the gunner," Cliff said.

"Ok, here were have Dias Flac, of Expel, who knew some form of swordsmanship. And Chisato Madison, of Nede. A reporter and a martial artist," Fayt said.

"And here we have Noel Chandler, of Nede. A pacifist and a friend to animals. And here Bowman Jean, of Expel. A pharmacist," Cliff said.

"These two don't have anything on them. They must have been friends with that Aniki. And the red headed girl, she's Kenni's twin Ariette M. Kenni. It seems she had some trouble on the planet Vendeen. Whoa. And she was experimented on," Fayt said. Everyone looked from Fayt to the frozen girl next to him.

"Maan, I can't believe it. Well, atleast now she's resting in peace," Cliff said. They all stood around in silence for a bit. Maria walked away from the console, telling them she had completed the transfer.

Cliff and Fayt nodded and they all started to heave the statues from this ship onto theirs. Luckily Mirage moved the ship nearer and they placed the statues in a few spare bedrooms. They all sat around in the main room and watched Mirage, as she loaded the video from the Dimensional Streaker up onto the screen. The image flickered for a bit, then showed a view of space. Talking could be heard in the background.

'Hey, what is this function Leon?' A male voice asked.

'Well, big brother. I thought it would be interesting to put a little video documentation diary onto the control system. So as we can look back on our adventures and remember all the fun times we had. Haha, you could show it to yours and big sister's child when they grow up. And we can all get together again when we're old and watch it with our children and maybe even grandchildren.' The one called Leon said. The video wobbled and the sound of buttons being pressed could be heard. The screen turned in a circle and they saw the frozen beings there on film, looking like they did before being frozen to death.

'Wow Leon. That's really neat.' The one known as Precis said.

The red headed one named Aniki stood up and waved at the camera.

'Hey, son. It's me, your dad. I bet you're thinking, Whoa, my dad was handsome. Well, I'm sure you are quite the devilish-' he said, before the one known as Celine hit him in the stomach.

'Hey, darling. How do you even know if we have children? I haven't decided if you're **the one **yet.' Celine said. Aniki started grabbing Celine's arm, moaning about being sorry and that he'll make up for it. In the end she threatened a _thunder bolt_. He gave in. The camera faced Claude for a while.

'So where are we off to?' The one called Ashton asked.

'Who knows? Maybe we can discover new places. Hey, where are the others?' Claude asked.

'Ernest and Opera are being all lovey-dovey in your room. Dias and Chisato are talking in Celine's room. Aniki's buddies are snoring in their room. Bowman and Noel are battling it out with a game of poker. And Ariette seems to be deep in thought in our room.' Precis replied. Claude nodded, concentrating on the blankets of space in front of him. Rena was happily holding onto Claude's arm, Precis and Leon were sat on the floor, talking about stuff and Celine and Aniki were snuggling at the other end. Cluade's face shifted from relaxed to fear-ridden shock. He hastily started pushing lots of buttons quicker and quicker. This worried everyone, as the ship vibrated and felt like it had hit something. Rena started hugging onto Claude harder and Leon and Precis screamed along with Ashton and his dragons. Celine and Aniki looked tense, but soon relaxed, knowing that worrying would not get them anywhere.

The screen flicked outside for a bit, showing a large glowing planet, flashing white and blue. What seemed like giant ropes of icy light started coming towards the ship and eventually hit it, grabbing the ship and pulling it in. The screen flicked back to the interior, as the people onboard the Dimentional Streaker instantly froze over. The screen went black and Fayt and the others stared in shock. Mirage turned the film off and faced them.

"Horrible. I guess we were fortunate to have our shields up. Either that, or the planet is unstable, and freezes random ships that fly by unexpectedly. Either way, we must consult the Federation of our discovery. What was deemed could be dangerous has turned to imminent danger," Mirage said. Everyone nodded. Sophia and Peppita started crying.

"That was so sad. I can't believe something like that could happen," Sophia wept. Albel stood up.

"I'm going to retire to my room," Albel said, before leaving the room. He entered his room and sighed. He remembered the strange feeling of déjà vu when he entered the ship. He shook his head, dismissing it for being nothing worth worrying about. He got into bed and slept.

Maria and Mirage continued to steer the ship. Cliff and Fayt sat in the lounge area, discussing that day's surprises. Mirage turned to the boys.

"Hey, it looks like we're going to take a bit longer getting to Earth. There's going to be a meteor wave in the Sol region. We will take the long way around. We may be on here on a couple of days. Rest tight guys," Mirage explained. Fayt and Cliff nodded. Fayt sighed.

"It's really tragic. I mean, Kenni was having a child. To think there could have been a Kenni still here," Fayt said. Cliff just looked at him and sighed.

"Yeah. Bad things happen and there's nothing you can do about it, kid," Cliff said, leaning back on the couch looking relaxed.

"Maybe it was someone like Luther, up in 4-D space. He was a pretty nasty guy," Fayt said. Cliff nodded, agreeing at the possibility.

"But, we'll never know now. We still don't really know how 4-D space works. Four hundred years to us could be four days up there. Well, not quite that, I mean, that does not sound right, as we would have come back to find a good few years have gone by. But you know what I mean," Cliff said. Fayt nodded and sat back, reflecting sadly.

"Is it normal to feel sad for those you don't even know? Who died four centuries ago?" Fayt asked. Cliff nodded.

"Good people are those who feel for other's loss and so on. I mean, death is a sad thing, be it of a loved one or someone you don't know," Cliff said.

Fayt nodded and they carried on discussing the issue. Meanwhile Roger and Peppita were sat in Roger's room, talking about what each had been doing in the time since they had last seen each other. Nel was sat in her room, but she soon got up and joined Cliff and Fayt in the lounge. Sophia lounged around in her room, writing in her diary and other such stuff. This carried on for a few days, as the recent discovery weighed heavily on everyone's minds. Four days after the incident, everyone was feeling tired, for no apparent reason. Cliff and Fayt sat in the lounge, Sophia was in her room. Roger and Peppita played board games in Peppita's room, and Nel and Albel slept in their rooms. Mirage and Maria piloted the ship. One could cut the tension with a knife. Somewhere around noon, though, the tension was cut.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" A female voice screamed.

**Author's note: **Dun, dun, duuuuuun. What did you think? You finally know the reason I managed to incorporate both games. Please read and review. :3


	16. Chapter 16: Utter Madness

**Author's note:** Sorry you guys! It's finally up, I just had lots going on and all. I'll try and update quicker. Not to mention the fact that has changed and confused me. .

**Chapter 16**

**Utter madness**

Fayt and Cliff looked at each other and jumped up. They ran to the door that led into the hallway, where the scream came from, and opened the door. Sophia was stepping backwards towards them and Fayt caught her, as they acknowledged the sight which had made her scream…a pale figure of a blonde young man stood there, stepping backwards in alarm, with his hands out gesturing that he was confused and meant no harm. He stopped when he saw the two gentlemen looking at him.

"Am I seeing right? Because this can't be real. This is impossible. How can this be happening?" Cliff asked, not sounding like his usual confident self. The young man looked at them one by one and looked confused. He had his hand hovering near the hilt of his sword.

"Where am I? Who are you?" The young man managed to ask. Cliff walked forward towards the young man and the young man walked backwards in fright.

"Hey, just stay there, I'm not gonna hurt ya," Cliff said. The young man looked angry then, as if he didn't believe him, and he got out his sword and pointed it at him.

"You wanna fight? Look, all I want to do is check for a pulse. I don't want to be slapping a hero of the universe, y'know? So put the sword down and level with me," Cliff said. The young man growled. He lifted his sword and friction in the air started.

"_TEAR INTO PIECES!_" He shouted and sent Cliff flying back through the door into the main room. Unfortunately for him, he hit his head on the floor and was knocked unconscious. Fayt looked at the young man with wide eyes and Sophia ran in fright. Maria could be seen jumping up from the pilot's chair and going to Cliff's side. The young man pointed his sword at Fayt.

"What have you done to my friends? What is the meaning of all this? And where's Leon's ship?" The young man asked. He looked quite angry. Fayt frowned and walked forward.

"Just wait one moment! We haven't done anything to your friends! We found you all like that," Fayt said. The young man advanced.

"It looks pretty suspicious to me. I wake up to find my wife frozen, clutching me. I find everyone else is frozen. We're on a strange ship. You-you…killed them! You MURDERER!" The young man shouted, as he went hurtling towards Fayt. Fayt brought out his sword and blocked the young man's attack.

"Mr. Kenni, this is stupid! If you'd just listen to what I say-," Fayt started. Claude, as he was named, pushed him backwards.

"_SHOOTING STARS!_" Claude shouted. Fayt managed to dodge out of the way and sighed.

"Fine. If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you get," Fayt said, giving in. The sound of clanking steel rang through the airwaves and both seemed as good as the other. They both jumped backwards, looking at each other.

"_AIR SLASH!_"

"_AIR SLASH!_" They both shouted. Blades of air hurtled towards each other and collided. A rumbling could be heard. A ball of fused wind was expanding in the middle and exploded. Each boy was hurtled backwards and onto the floor. Claude quickly got up and ran into the main room, where Fayt had landed. Fayt got up in the nick of time and blades clashed once again. Maria stood transfixed in horror, watching the battle between her friend and a person who was supposed to be dead. Mirage also looked stunned. The battle raged on. The clanking attracted the attention of Peppita and Roger, who came bustling in, thinking there was trouble brewing. They stood in horror, seeing Fayt fighting one of the dead people.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Roger screamed, more in anger, than in fear. He started running towards Claude, but Cliff stopped him. He told him to stay out of it and that Fayt could handle it. Claude and Fayt were pushing each other's blades. Sometime later Nel came in, wondering what the commotion was about. She stood transfixed with a mixture of confusion and horror.

"Not bad for a scrawny little guy," Claude said. Fayt frowned angrily and pushed harder.

"Yeah? Well atleast I'm not a zombie," Fayt said. Buttons being pressed could be heard in the background.

"Actually, Fayt. I think he's alive, somehow," Maria said.

"Of course I'm alive. How could I be fighting like this?" Claude asked.

"Maria how do you know he's alive? And how is that possible?" Fayt shouted over the clashing metal.

"Look at his face, it's flushed with the stress of battle. Plus, he doesn't seem to be dumbed out," Maria replied. Fayt groaned and they carried on fighting. They hit each other with so much force that they were both thrown backwards. Claude ran towards Fayt.

"_MIRROR SLICE!_" Claude shouted. He carried out a fast slicing attack, which knocked Fayt down. He felt exhausted and could barely get up. Claude ran over to him and put his sword to Fayt's throat.

"Tell me what you did to my friends or I'll-," Claude said. Cliff strode up to him and grabbed his arms, making it so he could not move them.

"Now, come over here and we'll talk about this like grown men," Cliff said, guiding him over to the sofas. He sat Claude down, who watched them suspiciously. Cliff and a worn out Fayt sat down opposite him.

"Now, first of all. We did not do anything to your friends. Secondly, we are not going to do anything to you," Cliff said. Claude started asking how this was happening and, sighing, Cliff explained to him that he was in the 30th Century now and that somehow he had managed to escape death.

"Basically, you were all frozen to death. Four hundred years went by and we found you all in your ship. You are supposed to be dead, but somehow you have managed to survive. Though I tell you now, there is no guarantee that your friends will come back too. I'm afraid you're going to have to accept them as dead. I'm sorry, but it's all true," Cliff explained. Claude looked shocked and sorrowed at the same time. He narrowed his eyes sadly and bowed his head; letting tears leave his face.

"So my sister, she's-," Claude said. Cliff closed his eyes and nodded. Claude broke down.

"B-b-but, my Rena…my child! All gone? How could this be?" Claude cried. Cliff put a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't imagine the pain you're in. If it is any consolation to you, I reckon they died instantly. You all froze over instantaneously, leaving no room for pain," Cliff said. Claude nodded slowly, thinking that that was atleast a little more reassuring.

The next few days went by painfully, as Claude moped around feeling sorry for himself.

"I shouldn't be alive, so why should I stay alive? What good will it do?" Claude asked, while lying on the couch gloomily. Cliff looked at him seriously.

"Hey! Don't say crap like that, you hear me? You can't just take your own life just because your friends are dead. How d'you think they'd feel? They wouldn't like the fact that you're wasting your chance to live in a new world just because you missed your friends. Be a man and live with it," Cliff said. Claude stayed silent, realising that he was right.

"I'm sorry. You're right…" Claude said. Suddenly they heard a clonk of something heavy come from the hallway. A scream proceeded.

"Oh, hello darling," a female voice said, before another, softer thump could be heard. Cliff got up to investigate and opened the door.

"Oh my God!" Cliff shouted. Fayt got up. They saw a female with a frozen figure attached to her stood in the hallway, with Sophia at her feet, unconscious. Cliff went to the female and put her free right arm over his shoulders, helping her through into the lounge. Fayt helped Sophia into her room.

Cliff got her to a couch and sat her down.

"Why, thank you, darling," she said. Claude shot up.

"Celine! You're alive!" Claude shouted. Celine laughed.

"Of course I am, darling," Celine said. Celine was joined to Aniki due to the ice stuff; he had his arm draped around her neck, making it impossible for her to move her neck, he had his other arm around her stomach and his left leg slightly curled around her left leg. She could barely move and could not feel the parts covered in the ice.

"It's a shame about your friend Aniki. Once we figure out what the stuff is, we'll cut him loose from you," Cliff said.

"What are you talking about, darling? I don't want him removed. He will wake up soon enough," Celine said. Cliff shook his head.

"I'm afraid he's dead. You and Claude are lucky to have awakened. There is no guarantee the rest will follow suit. I wouldn't build your hopes up, otherwise you'll be disappointed," Cliff explained.

"Oh, nonsense, darling. Aniki wouldn't die. He wouldn't miss an opportunity to be with me, he said himself that he would do anything to be with me. That is why I like him, he's so romantic and I know he's sincere all the way. You can't control destiny nor can destiny control you. If something is meant to happen, it will happen. Aniki will awaken, I assure you. And I have never been proven wrong," Celine said. This cheered Claude up, but Cliff still looked unsure.

They sat around in the lounge discussing various things.

"Say, Cliff. Have you noticed that Albel hasn't woken up once since before Claude re-awakened? I'm starting to get worried," Fayt said.

"Ahhh, just leave him be. He's probably just going through some psychological stress. He'll be fine in a few days," Cliff replied. Fayt sighed, not knowing whether to believe him. However, a few days went by and Albel was still out.

"And he's not moaning or screaming in his sleep," Fayt said. "Something's not right." They sat there in silence and a fizzing sound that suddenly appeared was the only thing that broke that stillness. They looked to Celine, who was looking at Aniki. The ice seemed to be fading away and Aniki immediately cuddled Celine, like no time had passed during the four hundred years of slumber. He suddenly looked up.

"Er…where are we? And what's going on?" Aniki asked. Celine giggled.

"It seems, sweetie, that we have been frozen for four hundred years and now we have unfrozen to explore the new, evolved world," Celine explained. Aniki thought about this.

"Who cares? As long as my sweet Celine is alive and well, I don't care where we are," Aniki said. Celine rubbed her head in his chest and they sat there in their own little world.

"Well, that's three out of sixteen. I think there must be a good chance that the others will awaken too," Fayt said.

"Alright. We'll wait a few more days. If another wakes up, then I'll believe that they will all awaken," Cliff said. Fayt nodded. Needles to say, a few days past and a scared little boy opened the door to the main room. He poked his head through and saw Claude, Celine and Aniki sat there. Cliff turned his head a little and noticed the kid. The child in question quickly ducked his head back into the hallway when he noticed that the stranger had spotted him.

"Hey, Mr. Geeste, c'mere," Cliff said. "We're not going to hurt you. Look, some of your friends are here." Leon poked his head through again and noticed that Claude was nodding his head. Another kid walked up behind him.

"Where are we? This isn't your ship, Leon," the little girl said. Leon nodded and walked into the lounge to join Claude, with the girl in tow.

"Precis, you're ok too!" Claude said. He jumped up and took them both in an embrace.

"Hey. What happened to Ashton? Is he going to be alright? I'm worried," Precis asked. Claude rubbed her head and nodded, reassuring her that everything will be just fine.

"Well, I guess that settles it then! Hey, Mirage, analyse that ice stuff. It could have some strange attributes," Cliff said. Mirage nodded. Again another few days past and Cliff entered one of the rooms, to see if anyone else was going to unfreeze. The frozen bodies of Noel and Bowman were sat on the bed, cards still in hands and frozen in with them. He saw them turn slowly back to normal, and the moment they were ice-free, Bowman put his hand of cards down.

"Royal Flush. Beat that," Bowman said. Noel looked dolefully down at his cards and sighed. He dropped his cards and put his hands to his head, shaking it in disappointment.

"I lost again?" Noel exclaimed. Bowman laughed and turned his head when he noticed someone staring at them.

"Hey, who are you?" Bowman asked. Cliff came out of his stupor and shook his head.

"Man, you two are unbelievable. Come here and follow me into the main room. I'm Cliff, pleased to meet you," he replied. Bowman and Noel did what he said and they sat down with Claude and the others. Cliff explained the situation.

"Four hundred years? Great Scotts that's a long time. Wait…does that mean…? You can't be saying that my wife…is gone?" Bowman asked. Cliff nodded his head regretfully. Bowman put his hands to his face and wept silently. Noel placed his hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok. You still have us. Atleast we are still here. Just thank the heavens that God decided to spare us and allow us to witness a new era," Noel said. Bowman lifted his head and nodded, thanking Noel for his words. The next few days went by and they heard some noises coming from the bedroom with the ice statues in it.

"Oh noooo! What's happened to everyone? What's going on? Wait a minute…where's my Precis? And the others? Oh noooooo," the voice of Ashton shouted. Cliff went to investigate and found the dragon-clad swordsman wailing on the floor. Cliff tapped him on the shoulder. Ashton turned back with a face of half sadness, half anger.

"Where's my Precis? What have you done with them all? I'll show you," Ashton said. He got up and got his swords out. He went to hurtle towards Cliff, but he tripped over his own feet and a loud bang resonated. Cliff helped him up and showed him into the main room, where Ashton immediately ran for Precis. She returned his embrace and cried into his chest.

"I was so worried, Ashton. The blond jerk said that you guys might not wake up. I'm so glad you're alive," Precis cried. Ashton had tears of relief as he said how glad he was to see her. They sat down on the couch and snuggled together.

"I'll go and see if we have anymore wakers," Cliff said. He was gone a few minutes and came back, claiming the two henchmen of Aniki were defrosted, but still asleep, snoring away. A few days later, Opera and Ernest came suddenly into the room, busting down the door and guns blazing; literally.

"Who are you guys and what do you want with us?" Opera and Ernest asked in unison. Claude stood up and explained the situation. They sighed with relief and sat down as if nothing had happened.

"Hello, you guys must be Opera and Ernest. Pleased to meet you, I'm Fayt Leingod," he said. Opera's face twitched and she stood up. She walked up to Fayt and slapped him, sending him over the back of the couch. He got up and looked over the back of the couch, rubbing his face.

"That's for being everyone's pain in the arse, dear father Fate," Opera said, angrily. She exited the room with Ernest.

"Ow, what did I do?" Fayt asked. Bowman looked up from his hand of cards.

"Well, she did say a couple of times, that if she ever met fate, she would give them one hell of a slap," Bowman replied.

"Oh, c'mon, I'm not the actual fate. It's just a name," he said. Noel shook his head and told him that people are reincarnated, originating as a powerful God with a certain attribute.

"Gods don't exist," Fayt replied.

"Oh, on the contrary. You saved the fate of the Milky Way. Of course you control fate," Cliff laughed. Fayt laughed sarcastically at him and sat back, sighing.

Some time later that day, Chisato and Dias entered the room, Dias entering with caution. Chisato kept telling him not to be silly and dragged him along by the hand, with him blushing a little. Claude could not hold back a small laugh, which earned him a deathly glare from Dias. They were explained the situation.

"Oooooh, wow. That would make for a great story. I shall have to make notes. Where's my pen and pad, I must get this all down," Chisato said. A few days passed, but Ariette and Rena showed signs of waking. Claude sat in with them both and stared at their faces. Rena was looking terrified and Ariette looked…sad. Claude shuffled closer to his twin and stared into her eyes. He stroked the ice around her head and sighed.

"You've been suffering, haven't you? I haven't been a good brother to you, eh? But…once you wake up, I'll focus on being with you more, ok? So just wake up. Even with Rena, I can't be without you. You're my other half. Confident, sweet and unselfish," Claude sighed, holding onto his twin. He glanced at Rena and brought her closer. He stared at Rena's stomach, which was showing a fair bit.

"I hope Rena will be alright…and that our child will be fine. I couldn't bear you guys leaving me either," Claude sighed again. Back in the front room, everyone was chatting happily. Maria came in looking very serious.

"Guys, I think there's something wrong with Albel. He's not waking up," Maria said.

**Author's note: **There you go. Hope you liked. I'm gonna try and give you chapter 17 quite soon too to make up for it.


	17. Chapter 17: Comatose

**Author's note: **Heya, here's the next chapter, thanks for all of the reviews and for being supportive. =] I realise a part of this seems a little rushed, but I didn't want it to go on and on and on…

**Chapter 17**

**Comatose**

Cliff, Maria and Fayt entered Albel's room. Albel was lying under the sheets, looking the most serene he has ever been. He was not rolling around with nightmares, or moaning. Maria did a number of tests, like sensitivity tests and sound tests. But they got nothing.

"According to the scanner, he's comatose. It looks like all that strain took its toll," Maria said. Everyone stayed silent, unable to grasp what was going on. But Fayt shook himself out of it and stepped forward.

"Are you kidding? Why? Why has this happened? We've got to do something!" Fayt said. Maria shook her head.

"I have no idea as to how or why this has happened. And I certainly don't know how to help him. The only thing we can do now is wait," Maria said. Fayt still did not look happy.

"But-! We can't just stand here and do nothing! We have to help him!" Fayt shouted. Maria stared at him sternly and crossed her arms.

"Oh? And how do you suppose we do that?" Maria asked. Fayt went to protest, thought about it and sighed, shaking his head. Maria nodded and carried on examining Albel.

"Wow, kid. I didn't think you'd care so much about him. Has he really changed that much?" Cliff asked.

"Of course I care about him! He's my best friend. Yeah, he was a little bad back then, but he has truly changed. He cares about people, and he takes care of others before himself," Fayt replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Man, his time on Earth has both healed and hurt him, eh?" Cliff sighed. Fayt nodded, staring down at his sleeping friend. He lifted his head in sudden thought, and ran out of the room. He came back in with Rena and Claude in tow. Rena had woken up the day before, much to Claude's great pleasure.

"Miss. Rena, could you please try healing our friend. He's in a coma," Fayt asked. Rena looked a bit nervous, not sure what she could do. She sighed and held her hands above his torso.

"_FAIRY LIGHT!_" Rena shouted. A white and gold light came down and engulfed Albel. When it subsided, he looked no different. Maria did some more tests and shook her head, saying that nothing had changed. Fayt sighed and Rena apologised, to which Fayt told her not to worry herself and that it wasn't her fault. Rena bowed and walked out, wanting to get some rest. Claude walked out after her, looking flustered. Rena had had a check up done by Maria, to see if their child was going to be fine and, luckily, it had turned out well.

Cliff and Fayt, along with various others sat down in the main room and stayed silent.

"Hey, Maria, put the radio on. Maybe radio Earth. It is the only one which actually plays anything good," Cliff requested. Maria nodded and put the radio on. A song started to play and the strumming of guitars and the light melody kicked up straight away.

_Heart to heart_

_Kokoro no Switch on ni shite, namida o furi kirou_ Claude looked up; like he was thinking about something.

_Fuki nukeru kaze, karadajuu kanjiteru_

_Love to Thank you o ashita e tsurete yukou_ Claude stood up in surprise.

_Kimi ni deaeta KISEKI, nani ni kansha sureba ii no?_

"That's Ariette! She got a record deal not long before we froze up!" Claude said. Everyone just looked at him.

_Taisetsuna hito ni, hokoreru jibun sagashitai_

"Oh, my! Really? I love this song!" Sophia exclaimed.

"Yeah, these days the music has stopped coming. Actually, I think it was after Ariette disappeared that people lost interest in getting into the music business. As you can see, we have to repeat the age old favourites to keep people happy," Cliff sighed. Claude nodded and sat back down, as the rest of the song played…

…_Hmm? Where am I? What is all this…this darkness? Why do I feel so…light? Heh, is this what is left for me? Death? Well, they can't take me, not until I fulfil my promise. But…what am I doing? What is my purpose? And who is beckoning me…All well…_

Maria typed in a few things in the computer system. She frowned.

"It looks like there are some major disturbances around. We can't go any further, we'll have to keep circling around," she informed everyone, who just nodded. Maria and Mirage carried on typing and frowning at the screen. Claude looked out of it, while Rena took worried glances at him every so often. She slipped her fingers in his hands and he looked at her, but didn't smile. He buried his head in her shoulder and sighed.

"Ariette should have awoken by now," Claude said. Rena stroked his back, trying to comfort him.

…_Urgh…I feel so…heavy. Where am I? Darkness…surrounding me. Maybe I am destined to stay here. But someone is calling me…reaching out to me. But how do I get there? Should I follow the voice? Ahhh…_

"Ha! Beat you again," Bowman said. Noel bowed his head in a depressed way.

"It's not fair, how is it that you always win?" Noel asked. "Never mind. I'm fed up, I can't play cards anymore." He left the room, leaving Bowman confused. He had an idea and went out into the main room. He suggested a big game of strip poker, which was answered when he got hit by numerous attacks, spells and was, inevitably, knocked out. Peppita and Roger were drawing pictures, singing quietly to themselves in Roger's room.

"Hey, so what's so good about being in a circus group?" Roger asked.

"Hmmm. Weeeell, we get to travel. We have lots of fun, performing and being with each together, y'know?" Peppita replied. Roger thought for a moment and suggested they go talk to Leon, who was sat in a room reading some science books.

"Hey there. How are you getting on?" Peppita asked. Leon shook his head.

"I'm fine, naturally. I'm more worried about big sister Ari. She's still frozen. But…I don't like seeing her in that state…so I stay in here," Leon said, looking ashamed of himself. Peppita put an arm around him.

"Hey, you don't need to worry. She'll be fine. Everyone else is here, right? You just calm down and relax. Enjoy yourself," Peppita said. Leon nodded and Peppita smiled. Peppita and Roger left the room.

"Hey, let's join the others in the main room. Hey, Leon, ya comin'?" Roger shouted. Leon exited the room and walked with them to the main room.

Meanwhile, Maria had gone into Albel's room once again and was doing some more observations. She frowned and looked confused at numerous times, testing again and again, thinking something was going wrong. Finally, she sighed and returned to the main room, sitting down with Cliff and Fayt, who were sat in the lounging area as usual.

"I did some more tests and it seems like Albel is taking something in from his surroundings. In fact, he could possibly be the source of the trouble around the Sol system. But as to why this is happening, I don't know. We'll have to find out when he wakes up…if he does, that is," Maria said. Cliff and Fayt looked surprised. Celine sighed.

"Maybe that's why I feel so tired, darlings. But who is this Albel?" Celine asked.

"Wait, you feel tired? That means he's taking in magical power too. Maybe this is all part of some unknown neurosis he has. I mean, he did sense Claude and his friends. Maybe there is some sort of link," Maria said, scribbling down some notes in her notebook. "Albel is a friend of ours, who has gone into a coma." Celine nodded.

"Wow, I wonder what could be wrong? To be taking in something from the surroundings. I hope he doesn't take in anything vital, like life power and kill people. We might have to take action otherwise," Cliff said.

"I'm just as puzzled as you are. Maybe he's trying to gain strength to re-awaken," Fayt said. They all sat there deep in thought, while Maria got up and returned to her observations.


	18. Chapter 18: Commotion

**Author's note: **Here we are, updated quite soon to make up for the late update before. =]

**Chapter 18**

**Commotion**

_Urrgh. Everything is fuzzy. I don't remember falling asleep. Where am I?_

Ariette was lying down on the bed with her eyes half open. She was back to normal and she started getting up. Her head turned this way and that, realising the room was not the same as the one she had been in before. She had a look of shock and horror on her face, and she got up. She fell instantly to the floor. She got up, holding onto the bed, and panted. She realised her legs were partially paralysed and so, she could not do anything but crawl to the door and look out into the corridor.

_Where am I? This corridor isn't the same! This isn't Leon's ship! Oh dear, I've been abducted! I wonder if the others are alright? I must find them, and fast! But how, in my current condition? Hmmm…_

Ariette crawled through the corridor and bumped into a pair of legs. She looked up and saw a looming black clad blond, who looked rather surprised. She growled and backed up a little.

"Oh, you're awake now? That's great!" The man said. Ariette tried to get up, but failed abysmally.

"Get away from me or I'll scream! Just because I can't walk doesn't mean I can't hurt you," Ariette said. The man's face dropped a little.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you, you know. I helped you that time, remember? With those bastards testing on you," Cliff said. She looked at him angrier and growled.

"I see, and now you're abducting me? Where are the others? What have you done with them?" Ariette hissed. Cliff shook his head.

"I've not abducted you, alright? And your friends are fine. If you come in here with me, I'll explain everything," Cliff replied. Ariette made a noise of contempt and tried to get up again, lunging for Cliff. She fell over and he caught her, keeping tight hold of her. She tried to escape, wriggling all she could without the use of her legs.

"Calm down. You need to chill out, ok? Now come quietly," Cliff said. Ariette screamed and Cliff quickly took her into the main room, where numerous of the occupants had already got up to see what was going on.

"Ahhhh! Let me go this instant!" Ariette screamed, making all those who were advancing to see what was happening walk backwards.

"Ariette! You're awake!" Claude said, but thought better of going towards her, as she looked enraged. She managed to get free and fell to the floor once again. She tried to get up.

"Argh. Dammit," Ariette shouted. She hit her legs a couple of times and surprisingly for her, it worked. She got up carefully and raised her hands at Cliff. He put his hands up, gesturing for her to stop, telling her it was stupid. She launched herself at him and he jumped out of the way. She growled again and summoned her chakrams, and ran towards him in full rage. He put the back of his fists up and caught the spiked chakrams with them. Blood trickled down his hands in a small wave and he gasped in pain.

"Damn, what's WITH you? Stop this nonsense and sit down! If you haven't already noticed, your brother and friends are not in any danger," Cliff said, gasping from the spikes digging into his skin. Cries of 'stop' and 'that's enough' could be heard in the background, but Ariette was too angry to notice anything. She released a chakram and tried to slash him from below, leaving slight cuts to his middle torso and making him gasp in pain.

While all this was happening, Albel walked in, unnoticed, towards the fridge, which was situated opposite the lounging area, where the battle was taking place. He opened said fridge, taking something out and throwing it over his head. This can of cheap diet orangeade hit Cliff over the head, but he failed to notice this pre-emptive attack and carried on trying not to get hit by the huge clawed chakrams that were trying to tear him into pieces. Albel kept rummaging through the fridge and, finally, brought out a can of Dr. Pepper; his favourite. He also took a chocolate muffin out while he was at it. He walked by the battle, standing there looking to and fro at the exchanges. He shook his head and walked off a little.

Ariette was still in rage and she was pushed back by Cliff. She panted, finding her strength dwindling. She growled once more and ran towards him. She was going to strike the now bloody Cliff, but was stopped, feeling an arm around her waist.

"HEY! Let go of me this minute, or I'll-," she shrieked. A muffin was stuffed into her mouth.

"Or you'll what? Quit this fighting. I haven't woken up just to hear you fooling around with this idiot," a voice behind her said. She wrenched his arm from her and stood and stared at the black clad guy who grabbed her. He was standing there, like nothing was happening and with a look of boredom on his face.

"You, where have I seen you before?" Ariette asked.

"How would I know? I wasn't even alive 400 years ago," Albel grunted back. Ariette looked confused.

"400 years ago? What are you talking about?" Ariette said.

"Albel, you're awake! And you're looking as normal as ever," Maria said. Albel looked down at himself and back up with a cynical look on his face.

"Huh, well I do seem to be awake, is it that obvious?" Albel said spitefully.

"You were in a coma. You should be resting," Maria said.

"Oh, so now you're my mother? Can't a guy walk around after having a little sleep?" Albel hissed.

"A little sleep? You were in a coma," Maria said. Albel shook his head angrily.

"Coma…sleep, what's the difference?" Albel replied. He walked off to exit the room and turned his head for a minute.

"And you with the red hair, I'd practise some patience. Otherwise you'll end up like Fayt and your brother. And no one needs another hot headed brat around here," Albel said, before walking out into the hallway to his room.

"How do you even know me? And who are you calling hot headed?!" Claude shouted. Dias shook his head and muttered 'idiot' under his breath.

"What's going on here? Why do I get the feeling I'm alone? Everyone seems to be with the abductors…what's happening?" Ariette screamed, before falling unconscious again. Claude ran to catch her and held her sadly for a while. He picked her up and placed her under the covers of his bed and sat by her side.

Fayt got up and walked to Albel's room, where he was lying on his stomach. Fayt walked in and stood some way off from his bedside.

"How are you feeling, Albel?" Fayt asked. Albel shuffled and turned to face him, propping himself up onto his right elbow. He looked downwards, as if he were deep in thought.

"I feel strange, like something dreadful is going to happen in the near future. The dreams that haunt me…they are no longer those of my past, but of strange things that do not seem to exist," Albel said. "There's something about that red head too. She is at the pinnacle of something I don't know." Fayt looked at him and shook his head.

"But we won't know until nearer to the time, will we? I think since you were right about the strange presence on that icy planet, we have to consider your premonitions as something that could possibly come true. If you get anything more, then let us know," Fayt replied. He was about to leave, but Albel got up a little and grabbed his arm and pulled him back a little, until they were nearly nose to nose.

"Do you think of me a freak now? I know this isn't normal. What am I? How is this happening to me?" Albel said, in a nervous and slightly higher voice than normal. Fayt blinked and shook his head.

"Albel, you know what I think of you. You are my friend and friends don't abandon and think little of each other in tough times. I think it may be your troubled past that has led to you getting some sort of psychic ability," Fayt said. Albel blanched and let Fayt go.

"Who am I? What am I? What purpose do I hold? Damn it all! I have a feeling it's _her _fault. I know it is," Albel hissed. Fayt shook him a little.

"Get a grip on yourself! Maybe these new powers will help us! Look at Mr. Claude and his friends. Because of you, they are alive and well again. This has never happened before and you are the hero of this. So wake up and smell the coffee, will you?" Fayt said. Albel glared at him.

"I hate coffee. And who are you to talk? You said the same things when you found out you had those powers," Albel said. Fayt explained that anger is the first reaction, but that Albel should get used to it. Fayt walked out and Albel sat there, confused.

An hour later, Ariette woke up slowly. She saw Claude staring into the distance when focus finally came back to her. She reached up for his face, which made him snap back to reality and stare down at her worriedly.

"Claude? What's going on? I-I'm scared," Ariette said. Claude smiled gently and put his hand on her face.

"Everything's alright. There is nothing to be afraid of," Claude said. He explained what had happened and she sat in silence.

"Does that mean mama is-?" Ariette started. Claude nodded sadly. Her eyes watered and she started sobbing. She grabbed Claude's jacket and he held her there for a while.

In the main room, Maria was typing into the main computer. She suddenly looked surprised and lent back in her seat to stare at the screen some more. Claude walked in, pulling Ariette by the hand into the lounge area.

"Hey, are ya feeling any better?" Cliff asked Ariette, who looked up in tears.

"I'm sorry for lashing out. I don't know what's gotten into me. I never used to be like this. Thank you for rescuing me that time," Ariette sighed.

"Don't sweat it. Who knows? Maybe those jerks who tested on you did something. Just don't beat yourself up about it," Cliff said. Ariette nodded and wiped her face a little. Maria walked up to the lounge area.

"Hey, Fayt. I have just made a startling discovery. I was researching Mr. Kenni's bloodline, and it seems he wasn't the last Kenni. Mr. Kenni's father had a brother, and his bloodline carried on through him. Kenni lasted a good number of years, for about three hundred years. Then the last Kenni, a daughter Leila, married a Leingod…" Maria said. Fayt stood up.

"What?!" Fayt exclaimed. Cliff laughed.

"Yes. You and Mr. Kenni are vaguely related. Great cousins times by about a hundred. Or something of the sort," Maria laughed. Fayt looked at Claude, who had fallen asleep before Maria's speech. Fayt sighed.

"Well, I guess there's nothing wrong with that," Fayt said. They all laughed. Hours went by and Claude and Ariette finally woke up.

"What? We're related? Oh yeah…we did have an aunt and uncle. That makes sense," Claude sighed. Ariette was looking down and sighed. Claude saw that she was still feeling blue and put his arm around her. She smiled upon him and rested her head on his shoulder. Rena was sat next to Celine and Celine leaned over to talk to her quietly.

"Hey, darling, aren't you jealous that Claude is spending more time with Ariette now?" Celine whispered, giggling a bit. Rena smiled.

"Ariette's his twin, of course he needs to spend more time with her. What's wrong with you Celine?" Rena asked.

"Nothing, I was just testing you. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time you were jealous of someone else, darling," Celine laughed as Rena hit her on her arm. They both laughed and linked arms, smiling at each other. Aniki saw this display of affection and tried to get in on it, linking his arm with Celine's. Celine shoved him away lightly.

"Can't you see we're having a girl's only time, darling?" Celine asked, as Aniki started sulking.

"What are we supposed to do now? Our home is gone and the Earth has probably left us behind in technology," Ariette said. Claude rubbed her back and reassured her that everything will be alright. She nodded and said no more.

"Hey, darlings, where is the young man who saved our lives? We would like to thank the person who got us out of the frost bite, you know," Celine asked.

"He's moping in his room at the moment. And I don't think he would be too concerned about getting a thank you," Fayt replied. Everyone sat around talking happily and Ariette eventually stood up, saying that she needed to be alone for a while. Claude tried to argue, but she was gone in a flash. He sighed and brought Rena closer.


	19. Chapter 19: Sayonara

**Author's note: **Hey there. Sorry again for another late update, I keep ending up with lots to do. This is not so happy a chapter, but bear with me. =]

**Chapter 19**

**Sayonara**

Some hours later they reached the blue and green planet that was Earth. Everyone looked out of the window and Claude thought about how it had not changed a bit, apart from the numerous stations which were floating around the planet, one of them being Moonbase. He saw that there was a part of the Earth's surface and atmosphere that was blackened.

"This is Earth. Due to a universal threat which threatened to destroy the Milky Way, Earth was a victim of enemy fire," Cliff narrated. Claude looked confused.

"But…Earth has the greatest of defences and I'm sure it grew stronger while we were last conscious. I don't understand," Claude said.

"Yes…well, these were no normal enemies," Cliff said. He sighed and explained the whole story; not leaving anything out.

"That's plausible. We have always asked about our origins. And now we know," Opera said.

"Sooo…we're not real?" Precis asked.

"Originally, we were just characters out of a game. But we have evolved to become much more than that and after defeating Luther, we proved that we were truly our own selves. We all survived the deletion," Cliff said.

"Oh, darlings, what does it matter? We're here, and it does not matter how," Celine said.

"Hell yeah!" Aniki exclaimed. Cliff and the others were surprised at the lack of shock from the story. They descended down to Earth and docked in one of the stations on the Earth. Fayt woke Albel up and they all exited the ship, being whisked through the station. They headed straight for the Federation headquarters, where they explained all that had happened. The Federation Commodore listened intently and his eyes widened.

"No way! Claude and Ariette Kenni?" He said. Claude nodded. Before they knew it, they were in front of a large press conference. Albel was made a Federation hero, much to his dismay, as he was constantly pestered and asked questions.

"How did you know where they were?" Was one of the many questions. He could only answer that he had premonitions and gut feelings about these things. After a whole day of questions, interviews and celebration parties, Albel and the others were glad to get back to their ship. The Federation sent off numerous strong ships to go investigate the mysterious planet.

"We should stay in this ship for a while, until we can get some proper accommodation for our new friends," Cliff announced. They moved the ship so that it was docked in the New York area, where our Earth bound friends studied and worked.

Ariette stayed silently in her room for days, not wanting the company of anyone else. Terrible thoughts latched onto her mind and she was haunted by terrible nightmares by night. Fayt went back to college, Sophia returned to high school and Maria returned to her place in the Federation-now that the Federation had reformed its values and actions, Maria found the Federation a good thing. She worked under the Commodore and was making quite a name for herself. As for Cliff, in the time that they had gone off to do their own things, he was helping out the planets who were in need of assistance. Along with his sidekick Mirage they helped bring the planets, which were victims in the Luther incident, back onto their feet. Now Cliff decided to help Claude and his friends by bringing them up to date on the things that had happened in the four hundred years they had been asleep. Peppita and Roger sat around doing what young people do: chat and play games. They managed to coax Leon into joining them, bringing out the lost child in him once again. Albel returned to work, hoping that there would be more fun in flying around chasing felons.

A week passed and one day Albel returned home from a long day of chasing offenders. This day was particularly stressful, as a shooting had occurred. Luckily back up managed to get there fast and he rushed the victim to the hospital, where they were able to save the woman's life. He always hated the crimes where people had potential to die because of the crime. They were particularly stressful and he entered the ship silently. He got himself a can of pop out of the fridge and walked to the hallway, without hesitation. His room was opposite that of Ariette, whom he noticed didn't come out of the room much, only to find food or other such 'matters.' He decided to knock lightly on the door and, after silence ensued, he entered quietly. No one was there. He walked further in and noticed a note on the pillow. He picked it up and his eyes went backward and forward, reading through the neatly written note. He frowned and scrunched the paper up in his fist, walking hastily out of the room.

"Hey, where are you going? You only just got back," Fayt asked, as Albel walked straight past him and out of the door. He ran through the streets and sighed, knowing his dragon, Reayru, could not possibly come to his aid. Reayru had suffered a minor injury that day and Albel was now excused from work until Reayru had recovered. He ran and ran, until he reached a tall building in a large square. He ran into the building and ran up the stairs, knowing the lift would be too slow. He got to the top and opened the roof door. There, standing at the edge of the building, was Ariette.

"NO!" Albel shouted. But it was too late; she dropped from the edge. Albel ran and dived off the side, catching her. He hoped that one of the passing cars would see them and catch them. But when they were near the ground, he knew. He made it so that she would land on top of him, and he surmised that there would be more chance she would survive that way. He sighed. Ariette was only half aware of anything. People screamed as they saw what was happening. The climax came and Albel hit the ground. He bounced back up a little, his back arched in an odd position and, finally, he came to rest in a pool of blood on the concrete. Ariette's eyes were open barely and bloody tears emerged from her eyes, as she quietly shrieked, reaching out for his face. But all strength left her and everything went black.

Back at the ship, Fayt and Cliff were sitting around talking to Claude, Rena and Leon in the lounge area. Fayt's phone rang and he answered it.

"Hello?" He asked. He stayed silent as he listened to the speaker. His eyes grew wide and watered suddenly.

"What?! But…how could this-? No, this can't be happening!" Fayt screamed. He kept screaming down the phone and, after numerous calming down attempts made by the speaker, Fayt chilled out enough to hand Claude the phone.

"What's going on?" Cliff asked. Fayt had his hands clutching his face and he was sobbing whole-heartedly.

"Albel's dead! He fell off a tall building trying to save Miss. Ariette! Why would he put his life in danger like that?" Fayt stammered. Cliff was startled by the discovery and Maria and Mirage stopped what they were doing.

"Oh no! What happened? Is she alright?…Ok, I'll get there as soon as I can," Claude shouted. He put the phone down and silently sobbed. Fayt and the others got a hold of themselves and joined Claude in journeying to the hospital.

The hospital was silent and they were led along the corridors until they reached a door. The nurse opened the door and they saw a bed near the window and a glass cased bed nearer to the door. Claude ran to the far bed and stared down at the heavily breathing form of his twin. She had breathing equipment attached to her and her features were pale. Claude lifted her right hand and held it to his face, while he cried. Meanwhile, Fayt had rushed to the glass case. In there the lifeless form of Albel lay. His face was serene and he had a slight smirk playing around the corners of his mouth. Fayt saw a scrunched piece of paper in his hand. Fayt wept silently for his lost friend and Cliff held a grave expression, putting his hand on Fayt's shoulder. The nurse walked up to where Fayt was standing.

"We do not know what drove these two to jump off the roof. But what we can say is that this young man did not suffer. Instant death; there was no way we could save him. Yet we have had to place him in here for two reasons; one is that there is very little room left in this hospital to put him in, and two the young lady who jumped with him had tight hold of his jacket. We thought it best we keep them together," the nurse explained.

"Why would he jump off a building like that? It's pretty stupid, especially since his life has been looking up for the best for the last six months," Cliff said. Fayt called the nurse back and asked her about the paper in his hand. She nodded and quickly extracted the paper. Fayt looked at the name at the top. _To my dearest Claude…_

"Hey…Claude. This letter, this is a letter from Ariette to you!" Fayt said. Claude ran over and took the piece of paper. It read:

_To my dearest Claude,_

_I am sorry to say that there is nothing left in my life to keep me going. So I am afraid I must go and leave this life, for I feel another life is awaiting me. It was by bad luck that we were frozen and taken into the future. We will meet again. In another life sometime. But until then, enjoy this life and I hope my niece or nephew grows to be as strong and as brave as you. _

_From this life I wish you luck and I say…sayonara._

_Ariette_

Claude's eyes were wide open and he stared at it for a few moments.

"This is a suicide note…I can't believe she did that. And…not only that, she caused another person's life to fade instead," Claude said, trying to hold back the tears. Fayt and Cliff took the letter and read it.

"But…how did Albel know where to find her?" Cliff asked. Claude wiped his eyes and sighed.

"I have no idea," Claude replied, sighing. Claude looked at the man who had saved his sister.

"Saved by Mr. Albel again…when will she sit down and stop being so-so…angst-ridden," Claude sighed once again.

They left the hospital and over the next week, Claude visited Ariette constantly, only to find her still unconscious. Every time he would sigh and walk out miserably. Sometime after he left something happened; Ariette's eyes flickered and they flashed open. They were glowing slightly red and she sat up slowly. She took all of the hospital equipment out of her and stood up. She walked eerily over to Albel's glass coffin and put her hands on the casing.

"Why…did you do such a stupid thing…I didn't need help," Ariette whispered. Her eyes filled up with tears.

"Why? Why did you have to get yourself killed for me? Now what am I going to do?" She sobbed, tears free falling down her face at a fast pace. She pressed a button and the lid of the glass coffin rose. She touched his cold face and brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes, bending down to kiss his dead lips lightly. She closed the case and walked out, her features seeming to glow a faintish red colour.

"Sayonara, brave knight," she whispered.


	20. Chapter 20: Strange Disturbances

**Author's note****: **Sorry you guys, I have had computer issues and been busy with Uni applications and essays and all of the wonderments of uni work bogging me down. I'll try harder this time to update faster.

**Note: **Some names of things have been changed in here because at the time I was worried it would sound rather bad. All events are fictional and I have not changed them back just in case. xD

**Chapter 20**

**Strange disturbances**

The next day Claude entered the hospital room to find his sister gone. They looked all over the hospital to find she was nowhere to be seen. Needless to say, Claude was upset. They all decided to pan out and search the city. Maria was currently walking around town, oblivious to what was going on around her. She had picked up a good book from a bookstore that morning and she was reading it while she was walking. She looked up suddenly to find a car speeding in her direction, but she had no time to move. She saw the car move slower and her actions were somewhat put into slow motion. Someone quickly got her out of the way and got her into safety. She looked up to find time was acting normal again and the man who rescued her was looking at her.

"Are you alright, miss?" He asked. She nodded.

"What just happened? Time seemed to just-," she started before the man put his finger on her lips and shook his head. He smiled a benign smile.

"Nothing happened. Now, if you are alright, I shall go and attend to my business," he said. He had sparkly white hair and blue eyes. He smiled again, bowed politely and started to walk off after saying farewell. Maria ran to catch up with him.

"Hey, may I ask your name? I mean, I need to know who to thank, right?" Maria asked. He turned his head back towards her and laughed a little.

"My name is not of any importance. I am but a mere person not unlike yourself. Should you not get back to your day?" The man asked. Maria raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. Thank you very much for saving me, sir. I owe you my life," Maria said. He smiled, placed his hand on his chest and bowed heartily.

"The pleasure is all mine. I live to serve and I serve to live. Good day to you, young miss," the man said, bouncing happily off. Maria frowned and followed him once more.

"What kind of business are you up to?" Maria asked. He turned back, slightly startled.

"My my, aren't we nosy?" He asked lightly. Maria shook her head.

"I don't mean anything by it. It's just that you don't normally see white haired robe-clad men on this planet," Maria said. The man stopped and thought about this for a second. He was wearing a long white long sleeved Japanese collared robe, which were quite baggy and white trousers. His feet were clad in Japanese clogs. He nodded his head.

"I see that now. I wondered what all those people were staring at. But, this is my uniform and no, you may not know what I am doing. It is better you do not know. In fact, I would leave. Go on holiday somewhere," he said. Maria looked confused.

"Why? What's happening?" Maria asked.

"Nothing. It's just that I heard the weather was going to be terrible today. The worst it could ever get. So I would move. I wouldn't want my rescue attempt to go to waste, no?" The man said, smiling. Maria nodded and thanked him again. She walked off and headed back to the ship, where Claude and his friends were moping around sadly. Maria walked further in and dropped her bag to the side, folding her arms.

"What's going on?" She asked. Claude sighed and told her what was up. She shook her head and reassured him that she will be found eventually.

"I met this interesting guy today, he was wearing odd clothes and he saved me from a swerving car…only, it was as if time had stopped. But I must have been mistaken, in my moment of shock," Maria said. Cliff looked a little startled and asked her if she was alright, which she replied that she was fine. She went to the computer screen and put on the Television, to find out that day's news.

"…I am here today to announce the opening of the new art gallery, designed entirely by-," the news reporter was reporting, until an explosion was heard in the background. The newswoman ducked from the tremor and got up and stared anxiously into the still rolling camera, with her fingers to her earpiece. Her eyes widened and she nodded.

"This news just in! According to numerous witnesses, the Liberty Statue has been attacked! No one knows as of yet who or what did this terrorist attack…Oh no! Not only has the Liberty Statue been attacked, but the eye of London too! We will hand it over to Cherrie in London," the newswoman said. The camera changed and showed a high up view of the London inner state area, where the Ferris wheel was whizzing around in the air, fire flaming its edges.

"It is just terrible! One minute everything was just fine, the next minute, the main body is ripped from its mantle. It caught fire and is now spinning around in mid air. Also numerous scared people claim to hear insane shouting that sounds like a crazy arsonist. Luckily, no one was in the eye at the time, as it was up for repairs," the Londoner reported. Maria and everyone else were stunned. Cliff swore out loud and started up, getting ready to do battle. The rest carried on watching the news, as it flicked back to New York, with smoke rising in the background. This time they could see some of the statue on the floor.

"As you can see, this is a terrible mess. We must find the culprit fast…Wait! What? Another attack has been reported!…And another! In Moscow and in Paris! Oh dear Lord, what in Heaven's name is going on?!" The news reporter reported. Maria and the others watched, as another five were reported.

"Nine cities have been attacked? This is absurd! Who would do such a thing?" Cliff shouted. Maria was about to say something when more startling news appeared. The news reporter was talking one minute, and the next minute she was pushed out of the way by a burly guy clad in blue robes.

"Haw haw haw haw! Listen up cuz this is your only warning! We rule the Earth now! You bow to us! Or you will die a very slow and very painful, yet entertaining, death! Got that?" The man laughed heartily. Claude and his friends instantly stood up.

"NO! How can you still be alive? Dammit! Damn those guys," Claude shouted.

"You know that guy?" Cliff asked.

"Know them? Those guys tried to destroy the universe. Damn that guy," Claude replied.

"You mean the guys out of the Ten Man Apocalyptic Incident? Oh man," Cliff said. Claude nodded, looking angry. They all exited the ship and started towards the Statue. They ran for a long time, until darkness enveloped them. They looked around and saw a shiny prism-like line surrounding the area. Something came out of the far shadows.

"Haha, I did not think you would step into the trap so quickly. I am impressed," Vesper said. They saw Vesper glowing slightly in his greenish robe. A few more of the men were illuminated to show a white clad one, a black clad one and an orange clad one. Maria stepped forward and pointed at the white one.

"It's you from before! But what are you doing there? Don't tell me…you are on their side?" Maria asked. The white haired man smiled and bowed heartily like before.

"Heh. I am Cyril. I see I am remembered. What an honour," he said, still smiling. Maria got angry and clenched her fists.

"Ha ha ha! Well done Cyril. We can't have a party without one of our special guests dead, now, can we?" Decus laughed. He was clad in orange, befitting his hobby. "Oh, this party is going to be hot!" Lots of laughter could be heard echoing through the walls. Five more of the men appeared and were laughing along with the others.

"Well, I bet you're wondering what is going on, huh? Well, we're going to destroy all of you and take over the universe. Be warned; we are much stronger than we were before," Nicolus, the yellow clad man, said. They all laughed once again. Claude growled and got his sword out ready.

"We're going to beat you, you jerks! We beat you before and we can beat you again!" Claude shouted. Fayt also got into position.

"I don't know who you are, but you're messing with the wrong people. We will end you," Fayt shouted. Two separate laughs that were not of the nine in front f them sounded and two more figures appeared, one dressed in red and the other in gold.

"Oh Claude, you haven't changed a bit, have you?" Indaelcio said, a large malicious grin on his face.

"And Fayt, you seem to have lost one of your friends. Life is tough, isn't it? Maybe we should end it for you," the other man said. Fayt's anger intensified.

"Luther! How the hell-," Fayt shouted.

"How did we come back? Easy. I planted myself into this world before I 'died'. And I reawakened these guys. Now, we are the perfect team. Well, near perfect. We have one more friend to arrive. Come," Luther commanded. Red light filled the space and when it subsided, the form of Ariette appeared…only different.


	21. Chapter 21: All Together Now

**Chapter 21**

**All together now**

"Ariette! What's happened to you?" Claude shouted. Luther laughed.

"This is what happens to those who lose purpose. You remember how she was experimented on? Well, a special gene was implanted. Just like Fayt, Sophia and Maria. Only, her one is special. Depending on how she is handled, she could either turn out good or bad. You see, she has what is called a Violence gene, the gene able to evoke either Heaven or Hell," Luther explained. Claude's face was drained of colour and he stared at the form of his sister. She had spawned blood red wings and her eyes were all red. She wore a white dress and she was hunched over a little.

"Oh no…" Claude whispered. Indaelcio laughed.

"Oh yes! Her feeling secluded from her own twin and the loss of her time zone and mother…and finally, what drove her over the edge? The death of one Albel Nox. The only person who would really understand her and the person who brought herself and her friends back into the world of the living died for her. What else could she hold onto? She finally snapped," Indaelcio said. Claude looked both angry and upset at the same time. Fayt glared at the red headed man, thinking about his best friend.

"Wait, what do you mean when you say Albel brought these guys back?" Cliff asked. Luther laughed.

"Isn't it obvious? Albel was unconsciously communicating with her the whole time he was back in space with you guys, he led you to the planet and went into a coma, where he drew in power to awaken Claude and his friends," Luther laughed. The rest laughed along with him and this made Claude angrier. He demanded that Ariette be brought back to normal, but Indaelcio laughed it off, saying that it was too late and that she was gone. Claude bowed his head for a moment, as tears flooded his face and he looked up and, with a look of pure rage, he tried to run for Indaelcio. But a barrier blocked him. Indaelcio smiled.

"Well, I think it is high time we get this started. Ariette if you please," Indaelcio said. There was no movement for a minute and Claude and his friends stood seething at the news. Claude ushered Rena to the back, where Cliff and Dias nodded and stood guard over the fragile girl. Ariette's wings flapped open and she raised her pale face. Black lines could be seen coming down from her bright red eyes. She got ready to battle and brought out her chakrams. She ran towards Claude.

"_AIR SLASH!_" She shouted, as her wind filled chakrams went spiralling towards Claude. He dodged out of the way and swore.

"What are we going to do? I don't want to attack my own sister," Claude said. Ariette homed in on him again and he blocked her attack.

"We have no choice…she is too far gone. Not even that ancient rune could save her now. You would be doing her a favour by stopping her…I'm sorry," Maria said. Celine and Leon nodded in agreement with the ancient rune. Claude bowed his head and more tears fell. Sophia walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. Ashton and Mirage stopped Ariette's attack while Claude was having a moment. Sophia pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back.

"It's hard, as she is family. But you have to do this, not only for the sake of the universe, but for her as well. You see her eyes? They're weeping. She's in pain right now. We'll all stand behind you and we'll fight this thing together. You just need to be strong. For Rena and for your child. Think about what Ariette would have wanted," Sophia said. She stepped back and stared at him, as he hunched his shoulders and wiped his wrist over his eyes.

"She…she would want me to-to…" Claude nodded. "She would want what's best for the universe." Sophia nodded sadly and he took up a forlorn stance. Ariette came plummeting for him again and he dodged.

"_MIRROR SLICE!_" Claude shouted. His fast attack was evaded, as Ariette blocked with her chakrams, making his sword stand in one of the holes. She flew backwards and hovered in the air.

"_TRUE MIRROR SLICE!_" She screamed. She flew towards Claude and disappeared. The next second she was next to him, stabbing at him. A mirror image of herself was also attacking him. He found it difficult to dodge the two Ariettes and Ashton came in and got the attention of the mirror image, who started attacking Ashton instead. Both Ariettes flew backwards and merged back into the original Ariette.

"Ariette, show them that special move," Indaelcio said. Ariette nodded and Claude and everyone put their guard up, ready.

"_FIREBIRD FURY!_" She sang. Her chakrams flared up in flames and flames enveloped her body in the shape of a Phoenix. She started flying towards Claude, who put his arms around his head. Something put him in shadow and the person threw their hands out. Ariette stopped mid attack, still flaming.

"Albel!" Fayt shouted. Albel looked weak and he was bleeding from the mouth and various other places. He breathed heavily.

"Stop…this fighting! He's…*cough cough* your brother!…It's those maggots…behind you…who…need killing," Albel wheezed. He fell down a little, holding onto his once forgotten sword for support. He breathed some more and fell to the floor. Ariette looked at him and floated towards him. The flames died and she stared gloomily down at him. Her wings disappeared in an array of red feathers and she fell to the floor on top of the motionless Albel. Claude ran towards her, but a blinding white light stopped him and when it subsided, he saw them both gone. He looked around and saw them behind Rena. Rena tried to heal them, but Dias stopped her.

"Don't strain your child," he said. She nodded glumly.

"Ha ha ha, I see that man does not know the meaning of death. How noble. Well, then, shall we cut to the chase?" Luther asked. Indaelcio nodded. Maria loaded her gun and stepped forward, only to be grabbed from behind and into the shadows.

Indaelcio and the others charged forward. The fighters went to meet them, while Leon and the Spell Casters stayed back to chant spells. Claude and Ashton went at Indaelcio, chopping and slicing and getting pushed backwards a lot. Precis threw a fuming Bobot at Jibril, who struggled to get the tiny robot off of himself. Roger and Peppita held hands and spun around with each other creating a whirlwind and flew towards Nicolus, who was bowled down to the floor. A tremor could be heard.

"Oh, it's hot! Burn baby burn!" Decus wailed, coming down on Dias and Mirage, who quickly moved out of the way and swooped in to attack Decus while he was recovering from his attack. Balls of energy could be seen hurling towards Berle, who used Meta-guard and was left unharmed. Fayt and Cliff were busy keeping Luther busy. Nel attacked Vesper and Ernest countered Ruprecht. Chisato evoked her martial arts against Marsillo and Bowman used his poisonous moves on Shigeo, who dodged and parried the attacks.

Maria made a stifled noise, as someone had their hand over her mouth and she could not move from the arm that was hooked around her waist. The person released her and she spun around to meet electric blue eyes.

"You!" Maria said angrily. He smiled.

"Yes, me. Enough talk. Here," Cyril said, as he raised his hand, which hand a sparkly ball of light dancing around on his palm. Maria backed up.

"Get away from me! You're one of them," she said. He smiled.

"Yes. However. Take this," Cyril said. She started to run, but he grabbed her wrist and turned her back towards him. He raised the sparkly ball of light again and it enveloped around her. She blinked and stared at her hands.

"What is this?" Maria asked.

"Power. Now you can use your boosting abilities affectively against these guys. Useful, no?" Cyril smiled. Maria looked at him with a strange look.

"Why are you doing this? Are you using me?" Maria asked. Cyril nodded.

"Correct. I can't rebel against them, otherwise I will be obliterated. But you, on the other hand, have unbelievable power. All of you do. So if I just helped you from the sidelines…then maybe…And I can't use my mind games against them…they will know," Cyril sighed. Maria still looked confused.

"But…why?" Maria asked. Cyril sighed.

"I never wanted to do what they do, I just tagged along. Plus, it allowed me to bring back the planets which were felled in their wake," Cyril explained. Maria nodded in acknowledgement and stood ready to battle.

"I will ask one more thing of you, and that is to fight me, lest they get suspicious that I am not trying to help them," Cyril said. Maria nodded and ran away from him. He sent balls of light at her, which she easily dodged. She saw everyone fighting their hardest and most of them having no luck at all.

"_ANGEL FEATHER!_" Maria shouted. A bright light erupted and an angel appeared, dropping feathers on all her comrades. Cyril came up behind her and she dodged, and they began to punch and block each other's attacks. Rena, Aniki, Juro and Ryo watched, as battles were going this way and that. Aniki, Juro and Ryo were staying on the sidelines and regenerating magic power for the Heraldy users. The battle was looking grim and at that moment a red blur flew through the middle of everyone.

"_FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX!_" Two voices shouted, as they saw the forms of Ariette and Albel linked arm in arm and spinning around in flames. The Ten Wise Men and Luther were stuck in their places, and everyone else moved out of the way. Maria managed to pull Cyril out of the way without anyone noticing. A flaming flare of reds, yellows and oranges flew in the middle and span this way and that, engulfing the bad guys in burning hot flames. The chakrams flew around, hitting them numerous times. They could see a katana coming out to lash out at them as well and it too was covered in flames. The flames eventually died down and the Phoenix blurred back to the back of the room, settling down to show Albel and Ariette unconscious again. Marsillo and Shigeo crumpled and fell to the floor in a burning heap, dead. Ruprecht, Jibril, Nicolus and Berle stood gasping, hardly holding onto anything.

Opera, Precis, Ernest, Peppita and Roger ran towards them in a heated rage and began to finish them off. Leon was deep in chant.

"_GREMLIN LAIR!_" Leon shouted. Gremlins ran towards the weak ones and scratched at them. Berle was the first to fall in a dead heap. Opera turned on Ruprecht and together with Ernest, they finished him off.

"_FLYING TORPEDO!_"

"_FAERIE FRIEND!_" Roger and Peppita shouted. The Faerie attacked Nicolus and Roger went head butting into him at the same time. This brought Nicolus down. Roger and Peppita hugged each other in celebration. Precis made Bobot grow and used his Super Beam to defeat Jibril. Indaelcio laughed.

"You may have defeated them…but don't get cocky. They were weak and foolish," he laughed, along with the others. Nel ran towards Vesper.

"_ICE DAGGERS!_" She shouted, sending daggers of ice towards Vesper, who dodged out of the way and swiftly teleported in front of her and kicked her out of the way.

"_MIND BLAST!_" He shouted. This weakened Nel and she covered her head as he went to swoop down and attack. Noel ran and pushed her out of the way, getting himself knocked flying by Vesper's attack. He got back up and braced himself, holding his hands up in a battle stance. Cliff ran and pulled him out of the way and Vesper hit the ground.

"Don't take stupid chances like that! You're a mage, not a fighter," Cliff said. Noel nodded, bowed and ran to the back. Nel was lying unconscious to the side. Cliff, Mirage and Dias ran towards Decus.

"_ELECTRIC FISTS!_" Cliff and Mirage shouted.

"_CHAOS SWORD!_" Dias shouted. Dias' attack knocked Decus off balance and Mirage and Cliff pounded him with a large array of electricity. He was sent backwards into a wall. Cliff ran towards Luther once more and he and Fayt engaged in battle once again.

"_DIMENSION_ _DOOR!_" Fayt shouted, as he disappeared and reappeared behind Luther, attacking him from behind. Maria ran towards Decus and kicked him. She used a spell to weaken his attack and defence power. Sophia and Celine were chanting a spell.

"_EXPLOSION!_" They both shouted. An almighty explosion of flames and smoke burned the enemies. Decus and Vesper were left weak. Everyone but Claude, Ashton, Cliff and Fayt ran towards Decus and Vesper, effectively surrounding them and defeating them in numerous blows. Indaelcio and Luther were left standing. They laughed.

"Well, that just leaves three of us. Cyril, distract them for a small while," Indaelcio laughed. Cyril smiled and nodded. But no one charged at him, as he expected, as they went for Indaelcio and Luther. Cyril stopped them, sticking their feet to the floor.

"Come, Filia. It is time for you to help out," Indaelcio called out. A ghostly figure appeared above him and they fused together. Indaelcio chanted his ultimate move and a large wave of darkness, mixed with claws of red and blue came at Claude and the gang. It engulfed them and Indaelcio and Luther laughed. The darkness subsided and Claude and the gang were unharmed. This wiped the smirks off of Luther and Indaelcio's faces.

"What? That is impossible!" Indaelcio screamed. They went to launch themselves at Claude and the rest, but they were stuck in their tracks. Moments later, they were clutching their heads, screaming. Claude took it upon himself to attack. But a red blur flew right past him. Albel and Ariette were once again ready to attack and they had placed themselves in a half triangle.

"Claude! Complete the triangle," Ariette screamed. Claude nodded and did as he was asked. All three held their hands out in a V shape, making them look even more like a triangle. They started chanting. A circular rune appeared beneath their feet, around their triangle. Four smaller circles were spread along the edges, half inside and half outside the circle. Ancient writing was scrawled all around the edges of the circle and numerous symbols were inside the circle.

Wind spiralled around their ankles and the rune's lines were glowing blue. Their hair flew as if in a breeze and a purple glow was being emitted by them. In the meantime, Cliff and the others turned to look at the other enemy, who was deep in concentration. They went for the white clad man and he ducked. Indaelcio could move again and went for the white clad traitor. He sent a beam of light towards him and Cyril covered his head with his arms. Something blocked him from getting hit, as he saw Maria fall to the floor in a clump. He ran to her and picked her up. She coughed and smiled up to him. Fayt and Cliff gasped.

"Heh. Now we're even," Maria said.

"Maria! What did you do that for?" Cliff shouted, before turning to block the red head from attacking him.

"Cyril, you betrayed us! You were never on our side, were you?" Indaelcio spat, angrily. Cyril shook his head.

"I never liked what you guys were doing. So why should I kill innocent people?" Cyril asked. Fayt and Cliff proceeded to attack the enraged Indaelcio. Cyril looked down at Maria sadly.

"Why did you put your life in danger? I am of no importance, I have lived a woeful life, never endingly boring. You, on the other hand, have a whole life ahead of you," Cyril said. Maria laughed.

"Haha, I'm not going to die just by one hit. I shielded myself beforehand. I was just knocked off my feet," Maria said. Cyril nodded and pulled her up. They began to attack the two enraged villains until they heard a load shriek of the triangular attack being executed.

"_CREST OF THE STAR OCEAN!_" Claude, Ariette and Albel cried. Wind swirled around them and glittery stars flew all around. A long dragon of stars and flames captured the room and circled it. Blue lit up the room and the dragon flew for Indaelcio and Luther, capturing them in a shift of stardust and flames. They were engulfed in a bubble and were extinguished painfully from existence. The ancient rune slowly faded and Ariette and Albel fell to the floor. Ariette was half conscious and crawled over to Albel, checking his neck for a pulse. She sighed in relief as she found one. Claude ran over to her and embraced her.

"I thought I had lost you!" Claude moaned. She returned the embrace.

"I'm sorry. Everything had just built up. I think they were putting those thoughts in my head. I'm so sorry. I'm fine now, Claudio," Ariette said.

"Yes, you are!" Claude laughed and they laughed together. Claude helped her up and stood there looking at their allies. Claude frowned at Cyril and got his sword out.

Cyril raised his hands and Maria stood in front of him.

"He's on our side now," Maria said and she and Cyril explained everything, to which everyone understood and accepted.

**Author's note: Yes, it may be silly that I've made Cyril into a good guy, but I wrote this years ago and for some reason decided to have a random turn of events. If I changed this, it would mean rewriting a lot of the chapter and I was kinda happy with what had happened.**

**Oh and if you didn't realise, the triangular attack, the Crest of the Star Ocean, was the big circular thing on the front of the Star Ocean: Second Story (PS1) case. If that explanation made sense. o.O**

**Hope you enjoyed it. More to come.**


	22. Chapter 22: Broken Dreams

**Author's note: **Yeah, quickest update ever since the last one, for a few reasons, but it'll make up for my slow updating.

**Chapter 22**

**Broken Dreams**

Cliff picked a dazed Nel up and Fayt picked Albel up, while Claude helped Ariette along. They took them to a hospital, where Ariette finally passed out after all the strain.

"Well, now that that's sorted, we need to sort out where you guys are going to stay. I'm guessing you'll want an apartment in New York," Cliff explained. Claude nodded. Fayt and Cliff managed to find seven free apartments on the same floor as Fayt, Albel, Sophia and Maria, as people had moved off of that floor years ago.

"Hmmm…I'm not sure where Ariette and Master Leon are going to stay though," Fayt said.

"Ariette can stay with us, she is my sister after all," Claude replied. Cliff nodded.

"Hey, Leon can stay with me and Ashton," Precis said. Ashton nodded and Leon smiled happily. They went off to work this out and Ariette, Albel and Nel stayed in hospital. Nel was released the next day and Maria invited her to stay at her apartment for a while.

One day a few days later Ariette opened her eyes and sat up. She could see Albel sleeping in the next bed with all sorts of bandages on his head, on his arms and legs, and on his body. The nurses and doctors had marvelled at the miracle of his awakening just a few days before. They still had yet to find out what had brought him back. Ariette sighed and remembered what that Luther had said.

_A violence gene, eh? Maybe that's why Albel was awakened. My new powers brought life back into his body. I guess it was lucky I was crazy enough to kiss those dead lips._

Ariette reached up and touched her lips, a faint blush playing about her cheeks. She got up and walked over to Albel's bed, sitting in the side chair. She brushed a hair out of his eyes and stared down at him.

_What a brave man, jumping off the side of a building just for me like that. And for a stranger as well. I wonder how I can repay him? _

Ariette smiled and got up, wandering out of the hospital room. She cam back ten minutes later with a bouquet of flowers, to find Albel lying awake in his bed. Her smile brightened and she ran to his bedside.

"You're awake! How are you?" Ariette asked. He just stared at her.

"Well, of course I'm-…I mean, I'm fine," Albel said, stopping himself from being sarcastic. She giggled.

"I'm glad to hear that. I want to apologise. It's my fault that you're so bashed up and that you nearly lost your life. So please, forgive me. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Ariette asked. Albel rubbed his head and shook his head.

"Bah. I don't need your apologies. It was my decision to jump off after you. Just don't try killing yourself again. Otherwise I'll just watch you fall," Albel said. Ariette nodded and smiled. Ariette found a vase and put the flowers in. They were red roses and their smell filled the room. Albel took a single rose from the vase and stared at it.

"Beauty and strength…a deadly combination. How did you know that I liked these?" Albel asked. Ariette laughed.

"You're a fighter and you are strong…yet I get the feeling that you have a deeper quality than just brute strength. Besides, I didn't think giant daisies were quite you," Ariette replied. "Plus, I studied spiritual things back in high school. And I have a knack for knowing what people like from either their appearance or that and the little information I know about them."

Albel nodded politely and looked at the bandages on his arm. Ariette moved herself and sat on the side of his bed. Albel did not look up.

"When am I getting out of here? I have a job to get back to," Albel said.

"Hmm. Probably not until you've recovered a bit more," Ariette replied. Albel grumbled a bit and lay back onto his pillow. Ariette sat and stared down at him. Albel noticed this and blinked at her.

"What? What are you staring for?" Albel asked, feeling a little uncomfortable. Ariette stared to the opposite wall.

"I was just thinking about how you're such a nice guy and all," Ariette replied. Albel looked confused and stared at the door.

"You know, even though we've only just met, I feel like I've known you for much longer," Ariette said. Albel turned to face her and stared at her like she was mad.

"Oh? Well that's probably because we communicated through dreams. Other than that, I barely know you," Albel replied. Ariette giggled.

"No, silly. Not that. I mean like in another life. I feel like if we did exist in the past, we knew each other," Ariette said. Albel shook his head in disbelief and turned over and started to fall asleep. Soon after, Ariette returned to her bed and Claude came in. He ran over to her and took her up into his arms.

He told her about the plans to get an apartment and she smiled gratefully. The doctor came in and examined her, saying that she could leave that day. She thanked him and asked if he could see how long Albel has to stay.

"What? Why another week?" He shouted. The doctor tried to calm him down, but he was quite angry and punched the table. The doctor explained that he was injured and needed to stay some more time, just to make sure he's healing properly. Albel growled and buried himself under the covers in a huff.

"I'll come and visit you every day Albel, I promise," Ariette said. He said nothing. She left and Claude showed her to the apartment they were staying in. She loved it and looked into the bedroom she was staying in.

She went into Albel's hospital room the next day to see him fall on the floor. She quickly went to him and pulled him back up, were he held onto her shoulders for support.

"Thanks. I guess I know why they're keeping me in here now," Albel muttered. Ariette smiled and giggled.

"You really do want to get out of here, don't you? I know that feeling…" Ariette said. Albel looked down and stared at the floor.

"Hey, Albel? I was thinking a lot. I don't know whether this is too hasty or whatnot, but…I think I…like you. I really like you a lot," Ariette confessed. She bowed her head, unable to hide her scarlet face in her occupied hands. Albel just stared at her.

"And why would you do that?" Albel asked. Ariette looked back up at him wide eyed.

"I don't know. I just do…I guess I see some part of you that is similar to me. Both struggling to be accepted and all…I never was very popular in high school. I was always 'Claude's twin' or 'Claude's sister'. And you're trying to forge a better name for yourself. I like that strength in you. You care about people. Why would you jump off a building for a stranger?" Ariette said. Albel just stared and then turned his head away.

"Hmph. I'm not the one for you. You deserve better. So I suggest you give up," Albel said. He slapped Ariette's supporting hands off of himself and started walking clumsily away from her. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him gently back towards her.

"But you're the only one for me," Ariette said. She reached up and lightly touched his lips. She brought herself back after a minute and stared at him.

"Do you still feel nothing?" She asked. Albel just stared at the far end of the room.

"Hmph. Just get over it. I'm not worthy of that kind of stuff. But my legs do feel a little stronger now," Albel said. He stretched his legs out a little and walked perfectly back to his bed and buried himself under the covers. Ariette stood there and her eyes watered. She ran sobbing out of the room and out of the hospital. She cried herself to sleep that night.


	23. Chapter 23: Cold Shower

**Chapter 23 **

**Cold shower**

A week passed and Albel was allowed out of the hospital. He returned to his apartment and got himself a drink and some sweet stuff, heading over to the television to watch some random stuff on the television. Fayt exited the bathroom and welcomed Albel home heartily. Albel waved it away and stared at the box in front of him. Fayt laughed and walked to the kitchen, making himself a packed lunch before heading off to college.

Over at Claude's apartment however…

"I'm sorry, Claude, but I'm going to find somewhere else to live…" Ariette said, smiling. Claude tried to grab hold of her, to hug her.

"Ariette. We told you, there's enough room for you and the baby," Claude said.

"Claude…you and Rena are together now. You need your space. And besides, seeing you guys all lovey dovey, it makes me feel lonely. I want to find someone…but I'm scared. I don't wanna get my heart broken for a third time," Ariette said.

"How has that got to-," Rena started, but Claude cut in.

"Wait, who d'you fall for and when?" Claude asked. Ariette sighed. She explained to him what had happened and he sighed, shaking his head.

"But you only just met the guy," Claude said.

"I know…but there's something about him. Like I knew him in a past life or something. But…I'm not going to give up on him! He is the one for me, I know it! So, I can't stay here. I'll go find someone else I can stay with. I'm sorry Claude…it's not your fault, really. I just want what's best for you. You're my double, after all," Ariette smiled. Claude shook his head and agreed, taking her in his arms.

A knock came at the door and Albel got up and lazily strolled to the door. He opened it to find the red head there.

"Hey. Can I ask you something?" Ariette asked. Albel nodded and opened the door wider. He walked to the fridge and got a can of fizzy stuff out of it, offering it to Ariette. She gratefully took it and held it for a while, her other hand stuffed in a pocket of her baggyish trousers. She was wearing similar clothes to her brother, only the green jacket had a longer collar and the clothes were slimmer fitting. Claude and herself had found a stash of stuff in their parents' old apartment building-the apartment had not been touched since their mother had passed.

"I was wondering. Is there any chance I could crash at your place for a while, until I manage to find a place of my own? Only, I don't really wan t to stay with those other guys. It seems this is the only place where the people aren't involved with each other. Well, apart from Bowman and Noel. But they are a strange duo. The same with those two bandit friends. Please? I'll get a job and pay you," Ariette said. Albel nodded.

"Don't bother. I have enough money. But we only have the couch left. Although, if you want I'll sleep there and-," Albel said, trying to act like a gentleman.

"No no no! I will sleep on the couch. I'm fine with that. I'd sleep on the floor if I have to. I'm just grateful for a place to stay," Ariette said. Ariette bowed and left the apartment, to retrieve some of her stuff from Claude's apartment.

Fayt walked home whistling down the hall that led to his apartment and he entered, going to the kitchen to get himself a drink. He noticed Ariette sitting with Albel watching the television and walked over there.

"Hey…Ariette. This must be your first visitor, Albel," Fayt said, laughing a little. He sat down beside Ariette and took a swig of his drink.

"Visitor? She's our new roommate. Try to get along," Albel replied. Fayt froze and swallowed his mouthful.

"Roommate? But she's living with her brother, isn't she?" Fayt asked. Ariette tapped her foot.

"How would you like to live in your married brother's apartment with his pregnant wife? Not that I would know anything about that, but it can't be comfortable," Albel replied.

"Yeah, but…can't she go anywhere else? I mean, this is a guys' apartment and there isn't enough space," Fayt said.

"Big deal. She said she wanted to sleep on the couch. And she's the one who wanted to come here," Albel replied. Fayt stood up and walked away a little.

"But…oh, come on Albel. Think about this. There are all sorts of problems that might occur," Fayt said. Albel stared at him.

"Oh? This coming from the one who said that I needed to be nice to people, to treat them with respect and to help people in need. Stop being an ass, moron," Albel said. Fayt thought about what he said and sighed, apologising to Ariette.

"Where are you getting those new 'phrases' by the way?" Fayt asked. Albel smirked.

"Heh. I do read, you know. I got numerous books and stuff," Albel replied. Fayt sighed.

"I'll bet Cliff gave you a load of phrase and insult book recommendations too," Fayt said, sighing. Albel smiled, nodding. Fayt shook his head and walked into his bedroom. Ariette thanked Albel for sticking up for her and Albel just shook his head, laughing it off.

A week went by and Fayt walked in to see Ariette watching television, eating some snacks. He walked up to the couch and stood there, hand on his hip.

"Shouldn't you be getting a job rather than sitting here and not contributing?" Fayt asked. Ariette didn't take her eyes off the television screen.

"Albel said I could wait a while and get adjusted first. Plus, he said I didn't need to pay him rent, since he had enough money. Albel's a real nice guy. I can't imagine how he was before he met you guys; it seems so hard to believe," Ariette replied. Fayt shook his head and put his palm on his forehead.

"That may be so, but you still need to save up for when you get your own place," Fayt said. Ariette just laughed and repeated what she said about settling in. At that moment Albel walked in, dressed in his work attire. He walked up to Fayt and gave him a box.

"Someone gave this to me to give to you. And what are you bugging Ariette about this time?" Albel asked, sitting himself down next to Ariette. Fayt started to open the box, which was from his mother, to find some home made cakes.

"He's complaining about my lack of work. Fayt, you need to relax. I just got out of a hard time, you know?" Ariette replied.

"So did Albel and he's back in work! In fact, he was hurt way more than you and died for you," Fayt complained. Albel threw his hat at Fayt, which got him in the face.

"I told Ariette to take it easy. And since I'm the rent payer, that makes me in charge," Albel said. Fayt sighed a 'fine' and walked to his room. Ariette and Albel laughed a little and watched the television.

The next day Albel was off work and Fayt was out somewhere. Albel was sat in the kitchen reading the newspaper. Ariette walked in quietly and sat down opposite him. They told each other good morning and Albel sipped his hot chocolate.

"Albel…can I ask you a question?" Ariette asked. Albel nodded and she smiled.

"Well, it's about what we were talking about when we were in hospital, or you rather. What is it that you don't like about me?" Ariette asked, refusing to give in to his rejection. Albel looked up and stared at her seriously.

"Hmph. I told you, go find someone else. I'm not for you," Albel replied.

"But that's not an answer! I really like you, regardless of what happened to you in the past! You've changed and I like how kind you are and everything. What is it you don't like about me?" Ariette asked. Albel turned a page of the newspaper and stayed silent.

"Look, pretend the whole I'm not worthy thing isn't a problem, which it's not and tell me if you like me or not. What's wrong with me?" Ariette asked. Albel stayed silent once more. Ariette stood up in anger.

"Oh I see. Is it my chest size? I can't help it that I'm small," Ariette cried. Albel looked up.

"Chest size? Do I look like I'd care? Bah. I'm not a shallow moron like all those earthlings-and Klausian as well," Albel muttered.

"Then, what is it? Is it my personality? Am I too loud? Not loud enough?" Ariette cried. Albel balled his fist.

"It's nothing like that! I'm just not interested, alright? Now leave me alone," Albel said. Ariette froze, feeling like a sharp dagger had gone right through her heart, or a cold bucket of ice had been thrown over her. Her eyes filled up with tears and she started sobbing, running out of the apartment. She passed Fayt and a blonde girl on the way, making him turn in surprise, wondering what was up. He turned back and he ran towards the apartment, opening the door and seeing Albel sat at the kitchen counter, with his face in his hands.

"What's going on? What's up with Ariette?" Fayt asked. Fayt's friend stood at the door, a little confused. Fayt turned and motioned for her to take a seat somewhere. She sat nervously down in the lounge. Albel sighed and propped his chin on his clasped hands.

"Hmph. I didn't handle that well," Albel said. Fayt sat opposite him.

"Why? What happened?" Fayt asked. Albel stayed silent for a moment. He sighed and told him what had happened, while Fayt listened carefully and the girl just sat still in a daze. At the end, Fayt sighed.

"I guess you can't help it. I suppose you haven't had anyone like you before, huh?" Fayt asked. Albel shook his head.

"And how do you really feel?" Fayt asked. Albel shook his head.

"I don't know. This is all new to me. Dammit, are all women this emotional?" Albel asked. The girl frowned and stood up.

"You know, if you had given her a nicer answer, then maybe she wouldn't have been so offended. I guess we CAN get emotional. But can you blame us? I'm Meredith, by the way, nice to meet you. Fayt has told me all about you," she replied. Albel looked at her and sighed.

"Nice to meet you, I guess. Hmph. Like I'd know how to handle it. Anyway, I have things to do. Bye," Albel said. He went to his room and closed the door. Fayt and Meredith looked at each other and sighed. They started to do their studying together, as Fayt had invited her around to study together.

Ariette ran to the Central Park and sat on a bench, with her face in her hands. She sat there crying for hours, even when the rain poured down. It was late when she finally returned to the apartment block. She walked slowly up to the apartment and entered quietly, with no one around to see her. She lay down on the couch and fell asleep. She woke the next morning and walked to the kitchen, noticing Fayt there. She said a small good morning and retrieved the cereal from one of the cupboards.

"Are you alright? You were gone all day," Fayt asked. Ariette shook her head and smiled.

"I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you. It was my fault for getting hysterical," Ariette replied. Fayt nodded and reassured her that she can talk to him with her problems anytime. Ariette thanked him and picked up the newspaper, searching the job section. Fayt sat down with her and helped her file through what she would like to do and what she wouldn't like to do. They looked on the Internet and looked up numerous jobs and their descriptions.

"Hmmm…maybe I would make a good news reporter. The pay looks good," Ariette said. Fayt nodded and they made for the job centre. They talked to the lady behind the desk and they managed to get Ariette a job interview. Ariette was over the moon with joy and she waited patiently for her interview time to come along. When it did come along, she walked in happily and shook hands with the interviewer. They talked and he asked numerous questions and she answered, not feeling nervous at all. She came out all happy, announcing that she got the job on the spot. Fayt gave her a victory hug and Ariette thanked him immensely.

**Author's note: I realise Fayt's a bit of an arse in this chapter, which is unusual for him, but put it down to…late puberty? It was put there to bring out Albel's qualities, I suppose. **

**Last chapter next. *Sniff.***


	24. Chapter 24: Small bird

**Author's note:** I told some of you that this was the last chapter. Well, I kind of found a 25th chapter that I must have thought was part of this, so this is the second to last! Woot!

**Chapter 24**

**The small bird that forgot how to fly**

Ariette returned home with Fayt and she saw Albel watching the television. She walked up to him and apologised for her behaviour. He waved it off, saying he was not angry at all. She smiled and thanked him. They sat down and watched the television together like normal. Later on that night Albel went to his room and came out in a shirt and some black trousers. Fayt laughed at him, finding his new wardrobe unbelievable still. Albel threw a nasty look at him and walked over to Ariette.

"Come on, I need to show you something," Albel said. Ariette nodded and followed him. Albel led her outside the apartment block and he whistled, making Reayru descend all happily. Albel helped Ariette onto Reayru's back and he climbed on behind her, arms sort of around her due to the reins controlling Reayru's movement. Ariette blushed, feeling suddenly nervous.

Reayru started to fly and she watched as the buildings went by in the setting sun. Albel flew up quite high, so that they could both witness a beautiful twilight. Ariette gasped, as she had never seen something so amazing and beautiful before. After the twilight had gone by, Albel descended and got off of Reayru, helping Ariette down from Reayru.

Albel led Ariette into a posh restaurant, to which Ariette was a little shocked, realising what was going on. They sat down at a table for two and Ariette was a little nervous, blushing slightly. The room was dimly lit, perfect for a romantic meal and candles were placed all around the room. A huge space was in the middle of the large room, with a stage to the side. All the tables were tables for two and Albel did not look as sour as he usually did; rather he looked a little jittery. He reached for the menu, knocking over the vase of flowers, dampening Ariette's lap.

"Oh, no. I, er, I'm really sorry," Albel stuttered. Ariette giggled profusely, laughing at the redness in his face. He got up and picked up the vase, shakily wiping Ariette's dress of the dampness. He sat back down and sighed.

"So, um. What would you like for starters?" Albel asked, handing her the menu.

"Hmm. Well, how about we get one of those shared platters?" Ariette smiled. Albel coughed and nodded.

"Then maybe I shall have a Spaghetti Bolognaise," Ariette said.

"Wow, just what I was going to order," Albel whispered. Ariette giggled, making Albel redden a little. Albel straightened up and called for a waiter, telling him their orders. The waiter nodded and walked off towards the kitchen.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said this morning I-," Albel started.

"No, it was my fault for being so persistent," Ariette said. Albel shook his head, insisting that she had not anything wrong, saying that it was his fault and Ariette just giggled. Albel looked at her.

"W-what's so funny?" Albel asked. Ariette giggled once more.

"It's funny the way you're so flustered. Ever since we entered this restaurant. It's cute," Ariette giggled. Albel blushed harder and turned away, embarrassed to be caught behaving in such a way. Ariette just smiled. The starter arrived and they started consuming it. There was one onion ring left and Albel pushed over towards Ariette, even though technically it was supposed to be his.

"But this is yours. Are you sure?" Ariette asked. Albel nodded, smiling ever so slightly. Ariette beamed, thanking him graciously. Albel went red and Ariette laughed inwardly at the way Albel was so nervous.

A piano started to play and couples got up to slow dance to it. Ariette stared at the people who were getting up to dance. Albel got up and walked over to Ariette, offering her his hand. She blushed and put her left hand into his. He led her to the dance floor and clumsily put his hands on Ariette's waist. Ariette got closer to him and had her hands on his back, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You know, you can put your hands on my back. Tee hee," Ariette whispered. Albel blushed and moved his hands up her back.

_Sora o kakeru hikoukimado kara _

_miorosu kumo wa yuki no you_

_Anata no sumu basho e to mukatte _

_kono kokoro wa yurete imasu_

_Kisetsu mo jikan mo subete kawatte iku _

_Nee mite yo hora _

_ORION ga chiheisen ni kagayaku_

Ariette felt ever so comfortable and safe in Albel's arms and she swayed along with him, as they moved gently from side to side with the rhythm of the ballad.

_Tobikata o wasureta tori no you ni _

_Boku wa nanika wo miushinatte _

_Kizutsuita sono basho kara umaredeta _

_Itai hodo no shiawase wo mitsuketa_

Albel felt a little nervous and he was astonished at the strange new emotions that he was feeling right now. He could feel his heart beating fast and he listened at how the music was playing softly and beautifully.

_Surinuketeku shiawase hodo _

_hakanai koto to wa shirazu ni ita _

_Surechigai ya ikidoori ni _

_sotto hitomi wo sorashite ita _

_Kisetsu mo jikan mo oikakete miyou _

_Nee mite yo hora _

_taiyou ga noboru awai sora wo _

Ariette looked furtively to see Albel's face was that of a peaceful one, coloured slightly with red. She remembered how much she loved this song, back when she was in high school. She was surprised at how they were still playing these old songs, and she remembered how Cliff had told her about the music shortage.

_Tobikata o wasureta tori no you ni _

_Itsuka nanika wo mitsuketa nara _

_Ki ga tsuite sono basho kara umaredeta _

_Itai hodo no shiawase ni kitto_

Albel looked down at Ariette, who he spotted looking up at him. She was taken aback and turned her face away, blushing. He brought his hand so that he gently turned her face back to face him. He smiled gently, not sure what to do.

_Tobikata o wasureta tori no you ni _

_Boku wa nanika wo miushinatte _

_Kizutsuita sono basho kara umaredeta _

_Itai hodo no shiawase ni ima kizuite_

He gently lowed his face and placed a kiss upon Ariette's lips, which she accepted with much surprise. Moments later he softly raised his head and gazed into Ariette's eyes. She smiled wider and hugged him closer. He returned the embrace and the rest of the evening went as such.


	25. Chapter 25: New life, new looks

**Author's note: **I'M SO SORRY! I'm always neglecting my fanfiction, especially this one...But please read, tis the last chapter.

The last chapter...it has been an era and I wrote this agesssss ago. Twas my...second fanfic? Third? I forget. Though, I may do a sequel...but I don't know yet. Depends if people want anymore.

It's been great, guys!

**Chapter 25**

**New life, new looks and new hope**

The next morning Ariette and Albel were sat in the kitchen having breakfast together.

"I guess I should get my own apartment now. Then we can take things as they come," Ariette said, munching on her cereal. Albel shook his head.

"Why bother? You could always share my room," Albel said. Ariette gave him a strange look.

"No silly. That' is stepping way too ahead of ourselves. Tee hee. I think we should wait a little while until we move to sharing the same bed, you know?" Ariette said. Albel shook his head and smiled cunningly.

"That's not what happens where I come from. Normally the women move in with us straight away," Albel said.

"Is that so? Well, I happen to be a part of a more sophisticated society," Ariette smiled. Albel laughed and admitted he did not actually know what happens in his society, to which she laughed. Fayt walked through the kitchen and shook his head.

"Look at you lovebirds. Ariette and Albel, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-," Fayt started, before two empty cereal bowls went whizzing towards him, which he narrowly dodged. Fayt shook his head and left the apartment building. Albel and Ariette finished their breakfast and got ready to go out. They went for a stroll around the city streets. Along the way a smart looking businessman came up to them.

"Hey there. I am the manager of New Music Industry, a music company who are trying to find new talent. I believe you are the recently found Ariette Kenni?" The man asked. Ariette nodded and he smiled in delight.

"Ahh. Well how would you like to take up singing again? We offer great services and you will have the best time of your life," the man said. "Forgive me, my name is Freddie Norman."

"Well, singers don't really get much time off…," Ariette said. Freddie shook his head.

"No, your holidays will be much more frequent. With your skills, albums would come quickly and you needn't spend so much time in the recording studio. We can provide protection services if you wish for them," Freddie explained. Ariette nodded, telling him she wouldn't need it. She accepted the offer and she and Albel were led into a large and snazzy looking building. They were taken to a floor to the middle of the building and Ariette was shown the ropes of the music area.

"We wish to bring your single _Hearts_ back into circulation. Would you like some help with song writing?" Freddie asked. Ariette nodded and she spent the day going through ideas with the professional writers and Albel stood around awkwardly.

Claude had decided to go out for a walk, leaving Rena with Celine and Aniki. He took a walk through Central Park and remembered back to all the good times he had with Ariette around there. He saw Dias sat down on a park bench staring up at the sky. Claude walked up to him and Dias stopped staring at the sky.

"How are things going?" Claude asked. Dias looked away.

"Not too bad…but things sure are different…it's hard to get used to," Dias said.

"It is a little weird…we have been thrown into a totally new time. It's easier for me as I have past knowledge of technology, but you came from a simpler planet," Claude said. Dias nodded.

"Now I cannot fight like I used to, just do this police work. It beats all the other jobs they had, I guess," Dias said. Claude nodded. "Atleast we still have the 16 of us. Plus those other guys."

"Hey, if you're in want of battle, we could have a rematch," Claude said. Dias smiled and stood, unsheathing his sword. They clashed swords pushing each other back. Claude summoned wind, willing it to flow through his blade.

"_AIR SLASH!_" Claude shouted. The searing blade flew towards Dias and he stepped out of the way.

"_CHAOS SWORD!_" Dias shouted. His blue attack raged towards Claude, who jumped out of the way and ran behind him, taking him by surprise. He knocked Dias off balance and he used Ripper Blast to send Dias flying to the other side of the park. They fought for a long time, each giving it their best and each sending each other flying, until they were both panting heavily.

"Heh. I haven't had this much of a challenge since Luther," Dias said. Claude smiled.

"From each fight I grow stronger," Claude said. Dias smiled and they went in for one final lunge. Dias fell to his knees, barely, and Claude stood victory. Dias got back up and sheathed his sword.

"I'm impressed. You have gotten stronger. Finally," Dias said. Claude smiled triumphantly. They nodded to each other and went their separate ways to recover.

Claude got home to find Ariette waiting for him with Rena, with a huge grin on her face.

"Claude? Guess what?" Ariette asked Claude shook his head, not knowing what it could be.

"A concert's been booked! I'm going to be singing in a concert again! And you're all invited!" Ariette said.

"Oh my God! Awesome, Ariette! I'm so happy for you," Claude said, hugging his twin. She ran out of the apartment, rushing to tell everyone the news.

One week later, the big day of the concert arrived. Everyone was really excited, those who knew Ariette's singing were even more excited. There was a huge concert stadium, where thousands of seats were arranged around the stadium and a huge standing area was in the middle, before the stage. Ariette waited backstage for all her fans to seat or stand themselves, ready to hear her sing once more. Albel waited out in the front of the middle section, inches from the stage, along with her brother and the rest of the two groups. Once the Manager told her she was ready to take the stage, she squealed and calmly walked onto stage, greeted by a huge uproar of cheering.

"Hey there, you guys! I'm so lucky to be here today. What strange events have happened that myself and my brother, and friends were transported to this time. I can now carry on doing what I love and that is singing for you guys!" Ariette shouted. Cheering erupted and she smiled in delight of it all. "I'm going to start off with the song you all should know, the only one you'll know and that is _Hearts_!"

Cheering emerged and the music to the songs started.

_Heart to heart_

_Kokoro no Switch on ni shite, namida o furi kirou_

_Fuki nukeru kaze, karadajuu kanjiteru_

_Love to Thank you o ashita e tsurete yukou_

_Kimi ni deaeta KISEKI, nani ni kansha sureba ii no?_

_Taisetsuna hito ni, hokoreru jibun sagashitai_

_Kimi ni 'suki' to ie tara jibun o suki ni nareta_

_Ai to iuji wa kokoro ga man naka_

_Minna onaji. Shirareta kunai koto datte aruyo ne_

_Ikite iru no MANEKIN jyanai_

_Genjitsu wa GEEMU jyanai_

_Wagamama ni RISETTO rinai* yo_

_Oh my wish_

_Kokoro no Switch on ni shite, shiawase ni naritai_

_KISU no kazu dake, yasashisa o dakishimete..._

_Shunkashuutou kono machi de yume o miyou_

_DAME ni natta kinou kara, kitto 'ima' ga hajimaru_

_Donna mainichi mo, hitomi sorasazu ikite yuku_

_Chotto nanka atta karatte zenbu oshimai jyanai_

_Suwaru seki wa chanto aru no_

_"Aisuru koto de seichou suru"tte ima yatto wakaru kigasuru_

_Heart to heart_

_Kokoro no Switch on ni shite, namida o furi kirou_

_Fuki nukeru kaze, karadajuu kanjiteru_

_Love to Thank you o ashita e tsurete yukou_

_Kimi ni deaeta KISEKI, nani ni kansha sureba ii no?_

_Taisetsuna hito ni, hokoreru jibun sagashitai_

_Dare ga sobani itakara akiramenakatta no?_

_Dare no kotoba de mata aruki daseta?_

_Hikari nagara hibi ware nagara, itsumo hisshi de itai_

_Ai daNE, ai ga nakuchaNE_

As the last words of the final verse came out of Ariette's mouth, she started glowing in a bright white glow.

_Oh my wish_

At the start of the final verse, 'kokoro', the light subsided in a fell swish, making red feathers fly everywhere. As this happened, Ariette's hair was back to its yellow hue. Everything was back to normal and the universe was safe once again.

_Kokoro no Switch on ni shite, shiawase ni naritai_

_KISU no kazu dake, yasashisa o dakishimete..._

_Shunkashuutou kono machi de yume o miyou_

_DAME ni natta kinou kara, kitto 'ima' ga hajimaru_

_Donna mainichi mo, hitomi sorasazu ikite yuku_

_Ookina door o NOKKU shiyou _

Everyone cheered and clapped like crazy when she finished the song. She let her hand with the microphone fall to her side and she smiled in delight. She heard Claude's voice shouting to her through the crowds. She tried to shush everyone, so that she could hear him.

"Your hair! Look!" Claude shouted. She got puzzled and got hold of her hair and noticed it was yellow again. She brightened up and danced a little.

A few hours later, after the concert finished, all her friends came backstage and hugged her.

"That was great! You have such an awesome voice!" Precis shouted. Ariette thanked her and everyone was on high. The noise was interrupted by a sudden 'oh'. Everyone turned around to see Rena clutching her stomach.

"I-I think m-my water broke," Rena whispered. Silence pursued and then panic. Ashton started running around trying to figure out what to do.

"What do we do? What do we do? AHHHHHHHH!" Ashton shouted before Precis whacked him around the head and he crouched down clutching his head. Claude walked to Rena and hugged her. Cliff phoned the hospital and Mirage got out her emergency aid kit, examining Rena in case of harm. The ambulance came and Rena and Claude were whisked away to the hospital. Everyone got to the hospital, wanting to wait for the news.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Many hours later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claude stumbled out of the hospital room, looking somewhat confused and happy. Everyone got up quickly and walked forward.

"Well?" Ariette asked.

"Rena and I are parents. We have a daughter," Claude said, dazed. The sixteen of the closer friends entered the hospital room-luckily it was a big room. Rena lay there holding a tiny sleeping child.

"Awww, what did you call her?" Precis asked.

"We thought it over and we thought Sakura would be a cute name for her," Claude said. Everyone awwwed.

"Leon, we would like you to be the Godfather," Claude said.

"Me? Really? I would be honoured," Leon said.

"And we would like Precis to be the Godmother," Rena said. Precis jumped forward and hugged Rena, being careful with little Sakura.

"That's great!" Precis said. Everyone laughed.

Albel and everyone else were able to come in and say hello afterwards. Later on Ariette and Albel walked home to their apartment, holding hands and chatting about things.

"Heh. Now that you have your yellow hair, you do look a lot like your brother," Albel said.

"Tee hee. Yeah. Between you and me, we used to switch places in high school. But no one needs to know that," Ariette said. Albel laughed. They got an elevator all the way to the roof and walked near the side. They sat there and watched the sun set down on the shining features of New York.

"Wow, how pretty," Ariette said.

"Not as pretty as you though," Albel whispered. Ariette laughed and gave him a friendly shove. They laughed, watching the beautiful colours in the fading sky…

**The End.**

**Author's note: **Just to say, the lyrics for the songs I got somewhere and I don't own them. This one was Hearts from Star Ocean Ex. 3

Thanks for reading. ~Gyoro and Ururun.


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